A Warm December
by coldplaywhore
Summary: Bella Swan heads off to college in Seattle, with her high school boyfriend, Mike Newton, in tow. Will Bella be able to resist the temptation that grows from her surprising friendship with Edward Cullen, and will he help her through her darkest days.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The inspiration for this story came from the song "Winter" by Joshua Radin. I highly recommend it.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Chapter 1**

**Bella POV**

This room was absolutely disgusting. Sure, I had been assigned the largest of the three bedrooms in our residence suite, but it wasn't much of a consolation considering I had been cleaning for the better part of an hour already. My new room was by itself at the far south side of the suite, with the bathroom nestled beside it. In the middle was a large common area with a living room and kitchen area. On the far north were the other two bedrooms, and they were assigned to my new roommates, Alice and Rosalie, who I had yet to meet. The apartment itself was just a space for me to store my things; I figured I would be spending most of my time in the apartment of my boyfriend, Mike.

I was about to pull out the new iPhone that my dad, Charlie, got me for graduation and call Mike, until I saw a small framed girl with spiky black hair walk into our common room. At first glance I figured she was probably an art or drama major. I headed out from my room to introduce myself. No reason to be a complete bitch on the first day.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan. You must be Alice right?" It was a 50/50 chance in getting her name right. From the moment I saw her, she just didn't seem like a Rosalie to me.

"Yeah, I'm Alice Brandon from York, Pennsylvania. I'm in fashion merchandising, and you?" she asked curiously as she looked around the room, inspecting everything closely.

"I'm from a podunk shithole called Forks, here in Washington and I'm taking English." I followed Alice into her room and we chatted easily about our lives before school. She was such a naturally happy person, it was practically infectious. I could easily see myself being great friends with her. A few moments later we heard a loud knock on our door, and Alice kept talking as she walked from the room.

When she opened the door, there stood four decent looking guys holding various bags and boxes. They walked into the room and Alice motioned for them to put them in her room. "I had almost forgotten," she said casually as they filed into her room. "I flirted with some guys downstairs and convinced them to bring all my luggage up."

Once the guys were gone, Alice excused herself to go start her unpacking. About an hour later, she wandered into my room and stared angrily.

"You're room is so much bigger, you lucky bitch. I can barely fit all my clothes in the closet." She moaned unhappily. I shrugged my shoulders and stood on my bed to hang a poster sized picture of a park in Chicago. I had always wanted to visit, but never made it further east than Denver, Colorado and that was because of a layover on my way to Phoenix to visit my mom.

"We should do something tonight," she added casually as she sorted through my clothes in the closet. "I have a great fake ID, maybe we can find a good party to go to. Seriously Bella, tomorrow I should take you clothes shopping, you own way too much black." We sat on my bed chatting aimlessly about clothing and drinking games when we heard a loud commotion in the living room.

"Where the fuck is Rosalie?" shouted some male voice I didn't know. Alice and I got up and stood in my open bedroom door, watching the funny exchange in front of us. There were two guys in our common room, with several boxes and a few bags surrounding them. They looked seriously pissed.

"She had us haul all her fucking shit up here and she can't even bother to show up, "said the one on the far left. He was tall with a lanky frame and short blonde hair, not bad looking, but definitely not my type.

"Come on Jasper, let's just put all her stuff in the fridge and cupboards and get the fuck out of here. Serves her and Emmett right for leaving us with all this shit." Ah, Jasper, the tall lanky one had a name finally.

"The one they call Jasper is kinda cute," Alice whispered to me quietly. I wasn't going to let them put all of her clothes and shit all over our apartment, so I gave Alice a curious look and decided to walk out into the common room just as they were opening her boxes.

"What the FUCK do you think you are doing?" I yelled, clearly surprising both of them.

"We're unpacking, what does it look like we are doing?" Said the second boy, as he stood in front of the now open fridge. He wasn't as tall, but it my opinion, he was a lot hotter. He had sexy green eyes and a mess of thick bronze/brown hair that was very appealing.

"Hi, Jasper is it?" said Alice as she sidled up next to Jasper and started flirting unabashedly. He nodded his head and just kept looking her over. "I'm Alice."

"Well, Alice, it's a pleasure to meet you and your obviously very angry friend here, but we have some work to do" said the second guy as he began to open a few cupboards and shove her CD's in.

"Edward, just stop. It would have been funny, but I am sure there are other ways to get back at Rose than to fuck up her stuff," said Jasper as he kept staring at Alice. Edward looked back at him and just sulked furiously.

"Yeah, Edward. Listen to Jasper. Now, since you guys already brought this shit up here, would you mind actually putting it in her room so we're not fucking tripping all over it?" I asked as I grabbed Rosalie's stuff from the cupboard and put it back in the boxes. Edward was clearly pissed, but I could care less. After a few minutes of silence, Jasper and Edward finally grabbed some of the boxes and loaded them into Rosalie's room, putting them on her bed. Alice ran over to the desk in my bedroom and scribbled something on a post it note and shoved it in Jasper's back pocket when he came back into the room.

"Wow, she's fast" said Edward as he sat down comfortably on our couch once the boxes were gone. Jasper followed suit and soon they were both relaxing comfortably in our living room as though they owned the place.

"What on earth are you doing?" I yelled at them.

"We're resting. Moving is hard work ya know." Said Edward sarcastically. Something tells me he never had to move anything in his entire life. "Actually, Miss I'm too fucking special to introduce myself, we're staying put until ungrateful Rosalie and her dick of a boyfriend Emmett show up. He has my car and I'm not going anywhere without it." Edward was so damned frustrating, but so hot at the same time., and that was frustrating too.

"Fine. I'm Bella Swan. Happy now?" I asked curiously.

"Fucking ecstatic. Do you have anything to drink?"

**Edward POV**

Rosalie and Emmett were dead. If I found anything even closely resembling a condom wrapper in the back of my car, I would beat the shit out of both of them. Rosalie had convinced Jasper and I to bring some of her boxes and bags up to her new suite in residence, with promises of immense amounts of alcohol. When we got to the suite, Rosalie was nowhere to be found and Emmett texted me to thank me for lending him the Volvo. I hadn't fucked lent it to him. He stole it. I should call the cops. If I wasn't certain that there was illegal shit in that car, I probably would have.

Now all Jasper and I have to do is sit and wait. We've been here for almost an hour and Jasper has already met his latest conquest. Some little pixie thing named Alice. She is one of Rose's new roommates, her and some argumentative bitch named Bella. The only thing Bella had going for her was her looks, she had zero personality. She had pretty long brown hair and her eyes were an awesome shade of chocolate brown, and she seemed to have a nice set of tits under her baggy t-shirt. I shook my head and realized I shouldn't be thinking these thoughts. She was a fucking smartass and it drove me nuts.

When I asked her earlier for a drink, she offered me a coke without rum. Who drinks coke without the rum these days, I thought to myself. When she finally wandered out of the room, to what I assumed was her bedroom, I followed. Primarily because I didn't want to sit there and listen to Jasper flirt with Alice, and also because part of me was curious about her.

"What now?" she asked in frustration as I sat myself down at her desk chair and started looking around her room. I had no answer so I just shrugged my shoulders. Then a poster on her wall caught my eye.

"Nice picture," I said pointing to the black and white shot above her headboard. She turned her head casually, her long hair swaying over her shoulder in an adorable way. "That's Grant Park."

"You know Chicago?" she asked. Finally she was interested in something.

"Born and bred. We all are actually. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and I. We all went to high school together and this was the only school we all got accepted to together, so we thought it would be funny to go together. Of course Jasper's parents wanted him to go to Emory down in Atlanta, but he prefers parties to books, so here we are." I admitted to her. She smiled a big bright grin and I could see that she was clearly prettier than I had thought earlier in the common room.

We talked casually about Chicago for a little while, mainly her asking questions and me answering them without coming off like a complete prick. It was taking a lot of work on my part though. Suddenly her door opened and in walked some normal looking guy in khakis and a dirty ass t-shirt.

"What the fuck Bella?" he said as he glared daggers at me.

"Fuck off Mike. It's not what you think. He's a friend of my new roommate Rosalie. We were just chatting while Alice, my other roommate and Jasper, Rosalie's other friend, talked." She said anxiously. Clearly this was some boyfriend or something and I was not welcome.

"Bella, there's no one in the fucking apartment," he said as he pushed my door open farther to prove that Alice and Jasper had actually left.

"What the fuck? Jasper is a dead man." I said as I stood from her desk and walked back into the common room. I reached for my cell phone and was about to speed dial Jasper when Mike walked up behind me and grabbed my arm.

"She's taken, so I highly suggest you back off," he said, trying to sound threatening and instead just coming off as a complete dickhead.

"Well, she certainly seemed interested," I spat back at him quietly, doing my best to piss him off. "May the best man win."

"Trust me buddy, you don't want to mess with me," he said angrily, as I pulled his hand from my shoulder.

"You fucking touch me again, and I will break your hand. That is a promise, Mike."I turned away from him and headed into Rosalie's bedroom to call Jasper and find out where the fuck he had gone. After leaving messages for all three of my supposed friends, I headed back into the main common room and found Bella crying softly on the couch. She looked so sad, yet so cute, with her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Sorry, I think I made things worse," I admitted apologetically. Apologizing was not something I did often, so I was glad no one was around to hear me. "In my defense though, he's a complete douche bag. What the hell do you see in that guy?" She just shook her head and wiped away her tears. Apparently Mike had left after a little screaming match with Bella regarding our casual conversation. _Jealous asshole._

"We've been together for a while," she said quietly as she pulled herself from her fetal position and moved to a more comfortable spot on the couch. "All my friends from back home said I should just dump him before school and sow my wild oats, just be a normal single girl."

"I agree with these friends of yours," I said, trying to ease the tension with a joke. "I still think you should dump him. He's an ass."

"It's not that easy," she said. She was clearly hiding something, maybe a little booze will get me to the bottom of this situation.

"Let's go get drunk," I offered sympathetically. Girls always wanted to get drunk when they had guy troubles. I knew this for a fact, because I was usually the guy they were having troubles with. "I'll call Jasper and Emmett and have them meet us at my place. They can bring Alice and Rosalie. We have a full bar." I smiled genuinely.

"Let me go get dressed then," she said as she headed back into her room. Her boyfriend was a fucking tool, and hopefully I could prove it to her and she could move on, without the dickhead.


	2. Chapter 2

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

Mike had been such a prick earlier that when Edward offered me the chance to get drunk, I jumped at it. I was so frustrated that he hadn't even bothered to call me, but then again Mike always had a knack for calling or visiting at the wrong times, and this was definitely one of them. He also had a natural talent for jumping to conclusions. In fact, if it was a sport he would be an Olympic fucking medalist.

We had argued earlier about the fact that I had some guy in my room. When I tried to reassure him, he I thought I was full of shit because there was no Alice and no Jasper. _Like I could pull those fucking names out of thin air_. Who names their kid Jasper anyways? I reminded myself to ask Edward this later because it was officially one of the oddest names I had ever heard.

"Since dickweed stole my car, I'm calling us a cab," shouted Edward from the common room, as I continued to get changed. I pulled on a cute tight blue t-shirt and some clingy jean shorts. I'm sure Alice wouldn't have approved of the clothes, but I didn't give a shit at this moment. Where the hell was she anyways. So much for our budding friendship. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, grabbed my purse and left.

"You look nice," said Edward as he held open the front door for me and we headed downstairs to wait for our cab. As we walked out of the main door of the dorm, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. We sat down on a nearby bench, and we waited for our cab while he spoke on the phone.

"Hi mom," he answered softly. I looked over at home and giggled, only to be met with a playful punch to the arm. He covered the receiver and whispered to me to 'shut up' and I giggled even more. "I'm helping Rosalie at the dorm." He continued his awkward conversation with his mom until he noticed the cab pulling in front of the building. "Listen Mom, I have to go. Jasper just showed up with more boxes. Yes, I will call on Sunday like I promised," he groaned as he hung up the phone. He just glowered at me as we got into the cab.

"Fucking mama's boy," I laughed at him. Edward gave the address to the driver and continued to give me some sort of stare of death, while I kept laughing.

"Don't start. If you tell anyone Swan, you'll live to regret it," he whispered threateningly.

"Whatever…. I can't finish my remark cause I don't know your last name," I admitted, while still chuckling at him.

"It's Cullen, now stop fucking laughing at me." The rest of the ride to his place was pretty quiet, but every so often he would make a smart ass comment and I would laugh easily at him. About ten minutes later we pulled in front of a very cool looking building. It looked like it used to be old warehouse space that was converted into lofts or apartments or something.

"Lucky bastard," I muttered as we got into the elevator and he pushed the button for the third floor.

"Fucking right. Em, Jazz and I all got rejected from rez. That old "too many applicants and not enough rooms" bullshit. So we pooled our money and got this place. Eat your heart out Swan," he said as we walked into his apartment.

"Oh yeah, I'm so envious," I snipped sarcastically as I timidly walked into his pig sty of an apartment. "I'm so jealous of your shitty ass furniture… and that smell, what the fuck is that? It has quiet a pungent odor doesn't it?" I asked laughing, but trying not to breathe in whatever the fuck it was. Edward walked towards one of the rooms and sprayed almost an entire can of air freshener.

"What? You don't like it?" he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "We're not 100% sure what it is, but on a positive note I can't smell it in my room, so I doubt it's a body or something. Some people are coming on Monday to clean it, so deal with it. It's a work in progress." He then opened the fridge and pulled out two beers, sliding one towards me on the countertop. Then, as if out of thin air, two shot glasses and a bottle of liquor I didn't recognize, appeared beside our beers. He had just finished pouring the shots when in walked a stunning blonde girl followed by a fairly muscular curly haired guy.

"Fuck Edward, what did it take, all of five minutes to bring some chick home?" said the guy as he wrapped his arm around the shoulder of the blonde girl.

"Where's my damned car?" Ah, this must be the infamous Emmett, which meant the blonde was probably my new roommate Rosalie. When I thought of my apartment, I thought of Mike and our argument, so I immediately grabbed both shots and downed them, chasing them with the cold beer. "Pace yourself Swan, it's only 5, we got like 10 hours left of drinking." I nodded my head and poured two more shots.

"The car is fine, stop being a fricking prick about it. Here's the damned keys," said Emmett as he tossed them at Edward and then reached into the fridge to get himself a beer.

"Oh, hey Rosalie, this is your new roommate Bella Swan. She's having an emotional crisis of the dickhead boyfriend kind, so I'm getting her hammered," said Edward casually as he handed me another shot.

"Ahh, that explains a lot," said Rosalie as she extended her hand to me. "Nice to meet you Bella. Sorry I wasn't at the apartment earlier and you had to deal with these two losers." She was a lot more attractive close up, and seemed pretty sweet. "Speaking of, where the fuck is Jasper?"

Edward and I both started laughing hysterically, most likely due to the alcohol content now running through my blood stream because the fact that he had already hooked up with Alice wasn't actually that funny.

"He's with Alice… our other roommate. They left us at the dorm like an hour ago, and after a small inconvenience, we came here to get drunk,' I said calmly as I took another swig of my beer.

"So, what's your deal?" said Emmett as he pointed at me.

"Didn't you ever learn it's not nice to point?" I said bitterly.

"Fuck off, are you serious?" he asked sarcastically.

"Kiss your mother with that mouth?" I responded, slurring my words slightly. At least Edward laughed, cause I thought it was a pretty funny comeback.

"Bella's got relationship issues, isn't that right sunshine?" mumbled Edward. "Her boyfriend found us talking while I was waiting for you assholes back at the dorm. I had words with the dipshit, they fought and now we're getting wasted."

"Yeah!" I said enthusiastically. Man that shit worked quick, I was already feeling a decent buzz. "Mike's a jerk and booze is my new boyfriend," I slurred proudly as I stumbled over to their couch and sat down. "Why the fuck is your couch crunchy?" I asked with concern while they all busted out laughing.

**Edward POV**

"Dude, I heard about some kickass house party down near Seattle University, feeling up to heading out?" asked Emmett as he finished his first beer of the night. I was already four shots and one beer into the evening and was feeling pretty good. Bella and Rosalie were chatting on the living room floor, after refusing to sit on our apparently "crunchy" couch. I assured them it was being replaced Monday and they stopped making fun of us for a few minutes.

"What do you say Bella, want to head over to SU for a party?" I asked casually. I let her make the decisions tonight since she was the one who needed to be wasted more than me.

"Yes, Yes I do" she practically shouted. "Mike goes to SU. I'd love to see his face when I walk in, fucking plastered and with you."

"Alrighty then. I'll call Jazz and let him know where we are heading. He can meet us over there, with that Alice chick, if he wants."

After I left my fourth message of the day for Jasper, we all sat around the poor excuse for a coffee table and played drinking games. There was a Family Guy marathon on TBS and Emmett insisted we take a certain number of drinks every time a specific character said something, like every time Peter said "Holy Crap" or whenever Stewie made a reference to killing Lois. After 4 episodes, we were all laying on the floor from laughing so hard and completely wasted.

"I just don't get the point of the scary monkey in Chris' closet," said Bella as she leaned a wee bit too close to me.

"I don't fucking know," I shrugged. "This is like the fifth episode I've ever seen and we've seen four tonight alone."

"Come on Bella, let's go get ready to leave," said Rosalie as she reached for her hand and pulled her up. As I watched Bella and Rosalie head into the bathroom, I shook my head, wondering what kind of trouble she was going to get me into tonight.

"Ok, seriously, you are trying to hit that right? Cause if I didn't have Rosalie, I'd be all over it. She's fucking hot dude," said Emmett quietly as he patted me on the shoulder.

"Honestly. No. She's hot, yeah, I'll give her that, but she's taken. Her boyfriend Mike is a total fucking wanker though. Can you believe he fucking threatened me, just for talking to her? I lied and told him that she seemed interested me in and I was going to pursue her, which is why they were fighting."

"What are you gonna do man?" asked Emmett, suddenly all curious.

"Let's just see how the night goes. I think Bella is a cool chick, she'd fit in with our little group, she's a sarcastic little smart ass that loves Chicago. If her boyfriend is at the party, and he's being his usual douche bag self, I might need to change my game plan." I grinned as I took the final sip of my beer and threw it in the recycling, aka garbage can.

Ten minutes later, Bella and Rosalie walked out of the bathroom looking rather amazing. I looked down at Bella's shirt and noticed that the sleeves were ripped off of it, and the neckline also had a tear.

"What the fuck, did you guys get mauled by tigers in there or something?" I gave Rosalie a curious glance.

"What, you don't like it?" asked Bella happily. She was a happy drunk, good to know. "Rosalie thought it would be smart if I showed a bit more cleavage, ya know, show Mike what he's missing and all that shit." I nodded in agreement at Rosalie, but also so I could look down Bella's top a bit. I shook my head remembering that just minutes ago I told Emmett she could be a good friend. We grabbed the cooler of drinks that Emmett had rustled together and headed downstairs to catch a cab.

We all piled into the back of a hideous smelling Grand Marquis and Emmett gave the driver directions to the party. Rosalie sat on Emmett's lap because of the lack of space and poor Bella was wedged between both of us guys. She had a huge smile on her face and I was glad that both the booze and my company seemed to be cheering her up. When we pulled in front of the house, Jasper and Alice stood outside waiting impatiently for us.

"Where the fuck have you been loser?" shouted Emmett angrily the moment he saw Jasper propped up against a tree with Alice practically glued to his side.

"What are you, my mother?" spat Jasper in frustration.

"Hey Bella, I am so sorry I left you earlier. Glad to see you've had an interesting afternoon though," said Alice as she wandered over to where Rosalie and Bella stood, while I paid the cab driver. I gave him a little extra for having to sit through the intense PDA that Emmett and Rosalie forced upon us all.

"Alice… I love you…, "shouted Bella as she stumbled towards Alice, who held out her hands to catch her. Luckily, Alice seemed sober "This is Rosalie… I love her too." I reached over to grab Bella and hold her up with my arm. I was clearly more sober than her, even though I was still feeling the effects of the 9 shots I had. I wrapped my arm around her waist to steady her and walked towards the front door of the party with Jasper and Alice in front, and Emmett and Rosalie behind us. We hadn't even got through the front door of the party when I heard Mike's condescending voice echo through my head.

"What the fuck Bella?" he yelled from across the room. She stood up carefully and I didn't remove my arm from around her, fearful that she would just tip over and pass out.

"Fuck You Mike," she yelled back at him when he finally stood in front of us. "I love these guys," she said as she motioned with her hand to the 5 of us flanking her. "You, I fucking hate." It was one of those classic movie scenes where the girl finally gets to get everything off her chest. However, instead of her verbally cursing him out for being the world's biggest asshole, she leaned her head back slowly, then leaned forward quickly, and puked all over him. _I was so proud._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I know, it's a two fer night and this is a kinda long chapter. Enjoy!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

Thank god I had Emmett and Jasper here with me because after Bella's most display of alcohol intolerance, I had a feeling things might get a little rough.

"Bella, you fucking bitch," shouted Mike as he stared down at his shitty overpriced shoes, utterly disgusted by Bella's vomit. He went to grab her arm and I pushed him back.

"Don't fucking touch her," I yelled back at him. "Rosalie, Alice, can you take Bella outside for some fresh air?" I asked with concern. They both nodded their heads and Alice slid her hand along Bella's waist, where mine once was, and ushered her out of the house. Mike stood there looking at me, probably contemplating the ways he wanted to 'fuck me up', when suddenly Jasper and Emmett flanked my sides, staring him down.

"Do you have a problem?" asked Emmett of Mike, in a serious tone. Emmett was just as drunk as the rest of us, but he could never resist a good fight. He got suspended almost every single semester in high school and still got great grades.

"Yeah, I do," said Mike, trying to appear all confident and strong. "Tell your buddy to leave my girlfriend alone, and we can forget this ever happened."

"Fuck you Mike," I said with a small grin. "She tells you to fuck off, and then pukes on your shoes and you still want to lay claim to her. She came here with me and she's going home with me, so how about you leave her alone." I actually wasn't sure if Bella was coming home with me, but I knew it would piss him off, so I shoved it in his face anyways.

I looked around the room slowly; no one seemed to care much about our verbal sparring at the front door as all the drunken freshman were still enjoying their party. Mike didn't say anything; he just stood there, clearly contemplating his next move.

"Don't fucking burst a blood vessel trying to think of a comeback, dickweed," said Jasper as he turned around to leave the house. Emmett and I followed, making sure Mike didn't move. We didn't want him to get in some sort of sneak attack when we turned out backs. When we were back down the front steps, we found the girls sitting down, leaning against a big oak tree on the front lawn with our cooler of drinks in front of them. I sat down next to Jasper and reached into the cooler for something to calm my nerves. I pulled out the shot glass and bottle of vodka, pouring myself a quick shot. I then passed it around the group, we all took a shot and had a fucking laugh at the expense of Mike the asshole.

"Well, this was certainly an interesting night," said Alice as she swallowed down another shot.

"Where the fuck did you disappear to Jasper," I questioned. "All this drama happened because you two fucking snuck off somewhere."

"Dude, how can you blame us?" he asked as he gently played with Alice's hair. "We just showed up at some house party like you told us. You're the one who got Bella totally wasted." I looked over at Bella and she was now using Alice's shoulder as a pillow and was looking pretty tired. I glanced down at my iPhone and saw that it was already 2am. Bella and I had been drinking for almost 8 hours. No wonder she looked so rough.

"Bella and I were talking in her dorm room when her boyfriend, the douche bag you had the displeasure of meeting in there, busts in and starts screaming at us. We told him we were just talking in here to give you and Alice some privacy and he didn't believe us that you even existed because there was no one in the apartment." Jasper shrugged his shoulders and looked at me apologetically. He was about to say something when Bella finally spoke.

"Who the fuck names their kid Jasper?" she asked in all seriousness. The rest of us looked around and just started laughing at each other.

"Time to go home now, sunshine" I said a little while later, while she was nuzzled up to me in the back of the cab. Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie took one cab back to our shitty apartment, while I offered to help Alice bring Bella into their dorm room. I figured I could either pass out on Rosalie's bed or the couch, it didn't really matter, but their apartment certainly smelled a lot better than mine.

When we finally got Bella upstairs to their room it was just after 3am. I lifted her small body onto the bed and then Alice took over, removing her shoes and whatnot before pulling a blanket over her and shutting the door. I was about to head down to Rosalie's room and fall asleep on the bare mattress when I felt Alice grab my arm and direct me towards the couch.

"So… dare I ask what is going on with you too?" she asked with concern.

"What?" I asked, appearing to not understand what she was talking about.

"Seriously Edward, pay attention. You spent all afternoon with the girl, proceeded to get fucking wasted with her, agree to make her boyfriend jealous and then almost get in a fight with the guy. I don't know you very well, but I want to know what's in it for you?" She was clearly worried about my intentions with Bella, and I wasn't sure I could explain them properly to her at such a late hour.

"Alice… you're right, you don't know me. Bella is a sweet girl, and I probably know her better than you right now. She was having a bad day, which I sort of was the cause of, so I took her out to get drunk. That's it. We're friends. She's cool, but I am not trying to sleep with her." _Not right now anyways_ I thought to myself.

"Ok. Friends. That's cool." She said as she stood up to head to her room. I waited for her to close her door and then got up to get myself a glass of water. I also grabbed one for Bella and left it on her nightstand. Then I slowly wandered over to Rosalie's bedroom, pulled my shirt off and passed out on her bed, knocking a small box onto the floor in the process.

The next morning, I woke up to a loud knocking on the front door. Rosalie was going to be pissed when she found out her room was beside the door and whenever someone knocked, it echoed. Then again, maybe it just echoed because I was hung over. I strolled out of the bedroom and noticed neither Bella or Alice was awake, so I took it upon myself to find out who was keeping me from my peaceful sleep.

I was slowly sliding my shirt back on as I opened the door, and there on the other side, stood Bella's shithead of a boyfriend Mike, holding a very sad looking bouquet of flowers. I think some of them were even wilted. _Fucking idiot._

"Can I help you?" I asked boldly. His sad looking face changed into one of pure hate the moment he saw me standing there. The fact that I was just getting dressed probably didn't help matters. I could be a real prick when need be.

"Where's Bella?" he asked angrily.

"She's still asleep, we had a rough night ya know," I said, trying to imply that something more than her getting absolutely wasted actually happened.

"Well, I need to talk to her right now," he muttered as he walked into the common room. As he started to walk towards Bella's room, she popped her head out and made life even more awful for herself.

"Edward, where did you go?" she asked, with a sad and confused tone to her voice. Mike looked back at me, dropped the flowers and fucking decked me right in the cheek. _He was dead._

**Bella POV**

_Ow. My. ._

I woke up, with a pounding headache, to the sound of knocking on our front door. There was no way I was answering it in this condition. I sat up slowly and grabbed the glass of water from my nightstand and drank quickly from it. I was trying to remember how I got into my bed and where the glass of water had come from. After the knocking had subsided, I thought I could hear muffled male voices from the kitchen and then quickly remembered that Edward had helped me home last night.

I peeked my head out the door looking for him, "Edward, where did you go?" I asked quietly. All of a sudden there was a loud commotion, which wasn't helping my headache, and Mike was sitting on the floor beside my fridge clutching his stomach.

"What the fuck did you do him?" I spat at Edward as I ran out of the room and crouched down to help Mike.

"He hit me first Bella, for no fucking reason," he yelled back at me coldly.

"I think you should leave, Edward." I said as I grabbed my head in pain. I looked up and Alice was running out of her bedroom, pulling a bathrobe over her surprisingly revealing nightgown. She put her hand on Edward's shoulder and led him back to Rosalie's bedroom, to calm him down.

"What are you doing here, Mike?" I asked as we stood up at the same time, he was still keeled over slightly with his arms wrapped around his stomach. I assumed Edward got a few good punches in before I interrupted them.

"I came to apologize for yesterday. I got a little jealous when I found him here with you." He sounded genuinely sad, just like the depressing and now crushed bouquet of flowers he had brought me. "I shouldn't have assumed that you were flirting with him and got all upset the way I did." Mike was actually trying to apologize and I felt kinda sorry because I couldn't remember anything from last night, except when he got mad at me earlier in the day for talking to Edward. As he sat down on our couch, I crouched up in a ball beside him and laid my head down on his shoulder.

"You should be able to trust me. The girl in the bathrobe by the way is my roommate Alice, she really does exist. She's not make-believe like elves, gremlins and eskimos," I said chuckling to myself.

"What?" he asked all confused.

"Sorry, quote from the Simpsons. I saw a very funny episode when I was unpacking yesterday." It had been pretty funny, but not as funny as the Family Guy episodes I saw at Edwards. Ah, a memory, finally. It would all come back eventually.

"Bella, are we okay?" he asked miserably. We had fought before, this was nothing new. Like usual, I always took him back and today was going to be no different. I nodded my head slowly and he kissed my cheek. "Good. You owe me some new shoes."

I ushered Mike back into my bedroom so that Alice could let Edward leave. Neither of us wanted a repeat of their fight, so we decided that keeping them separated was the best solution. When Edward went to leave, he looked at me with a dissapointed face.

"You're too good for him," he said, and then turned and walked down the hall.

Mike spent the rest of the morning with me in my room. He offered to help unpack but he obviously didn't notice that everything was already done. I made myself a breakfast of Tylenol and water and laid back into bed. We chatted timidly about our new roommates and he told me about some friends from back home that were at the party last night.

"What party?" I said confused.

"Bella, you came with your roommates and new friends to a house party down by SU. You don't remember this?" he asked with concern. I nodded my head and he kept going with his story. "You showed up, I yelled at you for bringing whatever his name was, and then you puked on my shoes. It would have been funny if it had happened to someone else." I could tell from his voice that he was leaving out things for my protection, and I didn't like it.

"What else happened?"

"The moron and I almost came to blows, but it was nothing." Then he flinched again and grabbed his stomach lightly. He was probably still feeling the effects of his fight with Edward in the kitchen.

"Well, at least nothing major happened," I said unknowingly. I laid my head back against the headboard and closed my eyes. I heard Mike fidget around with something and when I opened my eyes he was shoving his cell phone back in his pocket.

"I'm gonna go Bella. You look pretty rough and could probably use some more sleep and a nice hot shower." I nodded and Mike kissed my forehead before dashing out of the room. I pushed my body back down my bed, set the alarm on my clock for two hours from now and went back to sleep.

When I finally stumbled from my bed two hours later, I was actually feeling much better. I headed out to the common room and found Alice and Rosalie watching TV and chatting amiably. They seemed happy too, until I sat down across from them and pulled my legs up to my chest in a protective position.

"What's wrong?" I asked, extremely curious by their quick change of attitude.

"Did you get back together with him?" asked Alice with a small frown on her face. I nodded and looked back up at both of them. They looked upset with me.

"Bella, he's a fucking jerk. Edward was right, you are too good for him," said Rosalie as she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair in frustration. "He yelled at you the moment you walked into that stupid party, called you a bitch when you puked on his shoes and then when he tried to grab you in anger, Edward, Jasper and Em had to protect you. Like I said, he's a fucking jerk."

"That's not what happened," I spit back at her angrily.

"Oh really Bella, and how would you know? You were practically passed out before we left Em's apartment." I looked back at her disillusioned, but not at her, at Mike. "Is that what Mike told you happened? Did he say that they were the ones being assholes, cause it was the other way around. The guys had your back, and he was being an overprotective jackass."I shook my head, unsure of whether I should believe what Rosalie was saying. I had no reason not to trust her, while Mike and I had had issues since the first day we started dating 6 months ago.

"Bella, it's true. The guys were sticking up for you, and Mike is giving you the run around," said Alice, as she genuinely started to get upset. "I don't want to see you get screwed over. This guy is a loser."

All of a sudden I heard a buzzing noise coming from the kitchen. We all looked around at each other, not sure what was making the noise. I stood up and looked over to see Mike's cell phone sitting on the floor. _He must have dropped it on his way out_, I thought to myself. I scanned through the phone quickly and saw five messages, all from this morning, and all from someone named Lauren. "_Where are you? Come over, I want a repeat of last night" _said the last text message. I almost puked again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ah, the coveted break up scene between Bella and Mike. I hope everyone enjoys. Reviews make me get chapters up faster *hint hint***

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

"What's wrong Bella?" asked Rosalie casually as she watched the color drain from my face. I couldn't say anything, so I just walked over to the couch and handed her the phone. She looked through it and read the recent text messages from Lauren and then looked at me with the most evil grin.

"Oh, they are both dead," she chuckled. She tossed the phone onto the coffee table and instructed Alice and I to get ready to go out ASAP. I had no idea what the hell she had planned, but knowing Rosalie, it was revenge in the best way possible. Half an hour later, Rosalie and Alice were standing by the front door waiting for eagerly for me.

"Come on Bella, we're just going to get coffee," said Alice cheerfully. I somehow doubted that was all that was planned, but I grabbed my purse and headed out with them anyways. We hopped in a cab that was already waiting in front of our dorm and Rosalie gave the cabbie directions to some area down near SU.

"We're not going to see Mike, right?" I asked nervously. I wasn't ready to confront him about cheating on me just yet. I was still trying to comprehend it all. My brain wasn't working as quickly as usual because of the immense amounts of alcohol from the night before.

"Fuck no, we're going to get coffee," Alice said again, this time in frustration. "Seriously Bella, this will be good for you." I just nodded my head and laid it back on the head rest of the seat. Once we pulled in front of the Starbucks, Alice and I went inside to get some lattes while Rosalie waited at a table out front of the store. When I looked back from inside, I could see her holding Mike's phone and typing something. _This couldn't be good._

Just as Alice and I were leaving to join Rosalie with our drinks, we saw a skinny blonde chick standing in front of the coffee shop, as though she was looking for something. All of a sudden she stopped and sat down beside Rosalie. Alice gave me a supportive glance and we headed out to join them.

"So… here's the deal," said Rosalie in a threatening manner as we sat down. "If you don't want me to go around the entire SU and UW campuses spreading nasty dirty lies about your fucking skank ass, you are going to tell me where I can find Mike Newton."

"Whatever, bitch" said the girl, who I was assuming was Lauren. I figured maybe she would tell me where Mike was if she wouldn't tell Rose.

"Are you Lauren?" I asked sweetly. Of course, it was all fake. It was taking all my energy not to puke on her shoes because she was making me physically ill. "I'm Mike's girlfriend." I saw her mouth the word 'shit' and lower her head.

"He told me he didn't have a girlfriend. I'm sorry if I fucked something up between you guys," she said in what appeared to be a sincere voice.

"Mike's the only one who is going to get fucked up," said Rosalie tensely. I stifled a small chuckle and tried to appeal to Lauren's remorseful nature.

"I don't care what happened between you and Mike, but I do need to talk to him so that he can completely grasp the concept of unwelcome. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, after he left my place an hour ago he said he was heading to meet some friends. They were planning to hit the record store on Finnegan St." She stood up to leave and then turned around to apologize again. I nodded my head casually and she walked away. Rose and Alice stood up immediately; apparently they were extremely eager to confront Mike. I just wanted to get it over with. We hopped into the first cab and Rosalie gave the cabbie the general address, and luckily he knew exactly where it was.

"That wasn't nearly as much fun as I had hoped," Rosalie commented with a disappointed inflection to her voice. "Maybe I'll spread some rumors about the bitch for shits and giggles anyways." We were all about to laugh when the cabbie spoke up from the front of the car.

"Are you sure you girls want to get out? It looks like there is a fight going on in the front of the store," he said with concern. Alice said yes, handed the guy the money and we hopped out of the car just in time to see Edward beating the shit out of Mike on the sidewalk in front of the store.

**Edward POV**

When I finally left Bella's dorm room that morning, I was beyond pissed. Bella had taken back that dick of a boyfriend and my car was back at my own fucking apartment. I was livid. I headed home in a cab, had a quick shower and headed out for a walk to clear my head. I couldn't understand why the hell she would take back the guy who had spent every moment I was near her yelling at her, calling her a bitch and just being a douche. My dilemma was simple, she was a cool girl who I wanted to be friends with, but I didn't want anything to do with Mike. It wasn't like I could avoid her completely; she lived with one of my best friends. After walking for a few hours, I decided to try to steer clear of her and hope she came to her senses eventually.

I found myself down on Finnegan St, so I wandered into this really cool CD and record store. They had old vinyls in the back and I scanned through them for a bit, missing my old record player that I left back in Chicago. I told myself to ask my mom to send it to me when I talked to her tomorrow. I walked through the aisles and started rummaging through their extensive Radiohead collection when suddenly I heard the familiar voice of Mike. I looked around and he was standing with friend, with both of their backs to me. He clearly hadn't noticed me and I was thankful for that as I listened intently to his conversation.

"So, this chick Lauren was so fucking hot. She even texted me this morning again for a booty call," he said proudly.

"When did you hook up with her?"

"Last night, after my girlfriend and I had a fight about some guy she was trying to hook up with." He said casually. What the fuck did he know? Bella and I were not trying to hook up, although she did look rather hot when Rosalie finished getting her ready for the party.

"What did you do man?" asked the friend who seemed to be living vicariously through Mike's sexual experiences. I hadn't known Mike very long, but this guy was definitely not a player. He was a normal looking guy, with boring sandy brown hair and sad looking eyes. How he can continue to get all these hot girls is beyond me. _Girls must be stupid in Seattle_, I thought to myself.

"Well when she texted me I was busy trying to make up with my frigid girlfriend, so I suggested my girl get some sleep cause she was so hung over, and I ran the fuck out of there. I think I left my cell phone there though, so I need to head back later today." I fumed at the thought of Mike the cheater getting anywhere near Bella again. I walked up to the front counter and paid for my Radiohead CD, still keeping an eye on Mike so that he didn't see me. Once I had paid, I leaned forward to the sales guy and asked him how adverse he was to witnessing physical violence. He shrugged his shoulders and I handed him a crisp $100 bill and asked him to keep his mouth shut.

"You pay for any damage guy," he whispered back to me as he double checked that it was a real bill. I nodded my head, left my Radiohead CD on the counter and noticed Mike leaving the store.

"I'll be right back for my CD," I said as I practically sprinted out the door and grabbed Mike by the arm, spinning him around to face me. He seemed shocked to me see standing there, and even more dazed when I punched him the gut again. He keeled over slightly; obviously he was still hurting from the beat down I gave him earlier in the day.

"What the fuck?" he shouted as he tried to stand back up. When his head was more upright, I took my chance and punched him again, this time across the jaw. _Fuck, he had a hard jaw. _I winced in pain slightly and then kneed him in the groin. When he fell over I started kicking him in the ribs, not really giving a shit about the extent of damage I was doing. I was so angry at him for treating Bella like shit. I looked in the record store and the guy was just sitting there watching us, not calling the cops or anything. I was about to give him another swift kick to the stomach when I saw 3 familiar girls walking towards me. _Shit._

**Bella POV**

Rosalie, Alice and I stood frozen to the cement as we watched Edward beat the shit out of Mike. I wanted to be upset with him for it, but I smiled a genuine smile at Edward and we started walking closer to him. He stepped backwards and just stared down at Mike, who was curled up in a ball on the sidewalk cursing and whimpering.

"Sorry you had to see that guys," he said in frustration. He was clearly upset with Mike about more than their fight earlier today. "This fucking idiot had it coming though."

"I know," I said with remorse. "He's been cheating, and I just found out," I explained to Edward. Mike looked like he was going to get up, and Rosalie took the opportunity to kick him in the gut again, knocking him back to the ground. She smiled; glad to finally get to hit someone. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

"So what are you going to do about it now Bella?" he asked curiously. I was about to explain to him that I didn't know what I was going to do, but as I saw Mike suffering in pain on the sidewalk everything became very clear to me.

I crouched down beside Mike and whispered into his ear, "Don't fucking call me, don't fucking text me and don't come anywhere near the UW campus. I obviously have friends who care more about me than you do, so if you try to contact me at all, I will make sure Edward, Emmett and Jasper all get a chance to fuck you up. Don't talk about me to your loser friends and don't even remember me. Stay the fuck away from me."

As I stood up, Rose & Alice wrapped their arms around me in support. I held my hand out to Rosalie and she handed me Mike's cell phone. Edward ran into the store quickly to grab something and then came back out to join us. We all started walking down the street together and I stopped nervously. I took the cell phone and threw it against the ground with all my might, watching it shatter into about twenty pieces.

"Fuck you, you little piece of shit," I said as I walked away with my new friends, confident in my decision to move on. "I need to get drunk," I said happily as they all laughed at me eagerly.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yeah, another two-fer day. Work is slow as hell. I probably won't be updating until later tonight or tomorrow, so please review your little hearts out in the meantime.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

"Emmett, Jasper…" I yelled as the four of us walked into the apartment. I saw them each stumble out of their bedrooms with a surprised look on their faces. "We need the good stuff. Bella finally broke up with Mike." I sounded like a proud father of an honor student when I said this. Emmett just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me all confused.

"Dude, we drank almost everything we had last night," he said in frustration. "How about Rose and I make a run down to the store with your car and pick up some more supplies?" he asked. At this point I would do anything to get any sort of alcohol in this apartment, so I agreed and threw him the keys.

"Ooh, can I go," squealed Alice a bit too enthusiastically. "What? I got a new fake ID and I'm dying to try it out," she said sincerely as we all laughed at her. A few minutes later the four of them wandered out of the apartment and I was left with Bella. _Alone_. She still looked pretty sad, but not as sad as when she walked up in front of the record store and found me kicking the shit out of Mike.

"Seriously, the smell… can it get any worse?" She asked sarcastically as she held her nose. I was happy to see the funny girl again and I reached for a can of air freshener and sprayed it around the room, masking the smell slightly. "You guys must go through 10 cans of air freshener a day."

"Monday… they're coming to replace the carpet remember, so calm the fuck down Swan. How about when they get back with the booze bus, we head over to your place so then you don't have to smell anything nasty?" She nodded in agreement and then began to wander around the apartment.

"Where's your room?" she asked casually as she noticed there was only one bedroom on the main floor.

"Yeah, Japer and I have rooms on the second floor. Emmett's got the room at the end of that hallway, near the bathroom." She strolled down towards Emmett's room, but never went in. Then she peeked in the bathroom, probably expecting it to be dirtier than it was.

"Ooh, you guys have your own washer and dryer… I might have to run over here sometimes and do my laundry," she said excitedly. I just nodded my head, picturing her sitting on the floor of the living room, working on her homework while doing her laundry. I could handle that. She started to climb the stairs to the second floor and a wave of panic washed over me. _Was my room clean? Did I leave any dirty magazines out?_ I shook my head, wondering why I would even care if she was just supposed to be a friend and then found her standing outside both doors, not sure which one was mine.

"The one on the left, "I said pointing her towards my room. It was dirty as hell with clothes all over the place, but it could have been worse. She strolled in casually and then stood still for a moment analyzing everything in the room. Suddenly, she threw herself down on my unmade bed and starting twirling her long hair between her fingers.

"This place is a mess Cullen, but at least it doesn't smell like a funeral home," she said jokingly. It was so nice to see her smile again.

"Whatever Swan, your room was a mess last night when I popped in and left a glass of water on your nightstand. It looked like Target had thrown up in your room."

"Thanks, by the way," she said timidly after a small uncomfortable silence filled the room. I sat down on my desk chair and continued to just watch her play with her hair. It's like she was casting some sort of voodoo spell on me or something just by twisting her hair. "You really didn't need to beat him up like that, but I'm glad you did," she added with a small smile.

"No problem. I kind of overheard him saying some shit at the store and I flew off the handle at him. Can you believe I even paid the clerk $100 to not call the cops?" We both laughed, but her smile disappeared quickly.

"What did he say?" she asked. I could tell her and upset her, or I could lie. I'd been honest with her up to this point, why fuck with a good thing, I told myself.

"He admitted to hooking up with some chick and then leaving you this morning to go and see her again for another round," I said cautiously, keeping a close eye on her reaction. There was none. She gave me a skeptical glance because she could tell I wasn't telling her everything. "Fine. He also said you were frigid and that he only hooked up with her because he thought you were hooking up with me."

"What a goddamned prick," she blurted out angrily. "Where are they with our booze?"

"Calm down Swan, they've been gone like ten minutes. I'm sure there are a few beers left in the fridge if you are so fucking desperate." Apparently she was, because she hopped off the bed and sauntered down the stairs. I couldn't help but notice how cute her ass looked in her tight jeans. I shook it off and remembered my true intentions… friendship, not sex. I had the same problem back when I first met Rosalie. I couldn't stop thinking about her as more than a piece of ass until she hooked up with Emmett. The moment that happened, any thoughts were gone. Probably explains why I don't see Alice like that either, cause she's now got Jasper.

When we finally reached the living room again, Bella plopped herself on the floor of the living room in front of our 'crunchy' couch and yelled out to me. "Bring me a beer, Cullen"

"Are your legs broken?" I asked sarcastically even though I did just what she wanted. I grabbed the last two beers from the fridge and wandered over to sit down in front of her, on the opposite side of the coffee table. "You guys should burn these couches when the new ones arrive. These pieces of shit are not something you offer up to goodwill Edward." We both laughed and I explained to her that they were here when we moved in a few days ago.

"It took Jasper like 5 fucking days and 20 different stores before he could decide on the perfect fucking couch. With my luck, it's some plastic, modern piece of shit that no one will want to sit on. I'll probably be longing for the days of the crunchy couch," I joked with her. She nodded effortlessly and then we talked about how Alice and Jasper are perfect for each other because they are both so anal retentive.

A couple of minutes later, the door flew open and there stood Jasper and Emmett, each with a case of beer in their arms. Rosalie and Alice both had big brown bags, which I figured was the liquor. They unloaded it all on the counter and immediately started pouring drinks.

"So, we decided in the car on the way back here that we are going to play a good old fashioned game of 'I never', and this isn't optional Edward," said Rosalie as she handed me a shot of Vodka. _Great. I'd be drunk in 10 minutes._

**Bella POV**

I had never played the game before that Rosalie was mentioning, but at this point I was up for almost anything. I figured if I got drunk enough, I could take a cab over to Mike's and puke all over him again. It wouldn't be classy, but it would be fucking hilarious. Rose and Alice arranged the shot glasses and booze on the coffee table and we all sat around it, opting to sit on the floor and not the repulsive couches.

"A quick reminder on the rules," said Emmett. I was thankful he was mentioning it, so I didn't look like a complete idiot as we played. "One person starts by making a TRUE statement that begins with "I never...." For example, "I've never been to Disneyland." Then, if any other player HAS DONE what the person said, they take a shot. No cheating," he said sternly.

"Yes Dad," laughed Jasper as he volunteered to go first. Emmett punched him on the shoulder and Jasper grabbed it and started rubbing it to soothe what appeared to be a hard hit. "Dude, I'm fragile." We all laughed again, and poured ourselves a shot to prepare. Since Jasper was busy with his now sore arm, Alice took the opportunity to go first.

"I've never shoplifted," she said timidly, watching the group for people who had clearly broken the law. Alice and I laughed as everyone but her and I took their shot. Next was Edwards turn.

"I never took drugs," he said casually.

"Edward, you have done drugs, so that doesn't work. You need to say something that you've never done," chastised Rosalie as he just shrugged his shoulders and looked over at me remorsefully.

"Ok then, I've never cheated on a girlfriend," he tried again. Suddenly Alice and Jasper both took a shot. We looked at each other curiously and I reminded myself to ask Alice about that later. Everyone seemed to be taking shots but me.

"I never had sex in a bathroom," said Jasper. Finally, something I could drink for. I took my shot down and noticed that no one else was drinking.

"What? I asked exasperated. "It's not like I was on the fucking toilet at the time," I joked.

"Anyways, my turn," said Emmett eagerly. "I've never gotten someone drunk just to have sex with them." He looked right at Edward, and as expected, he took a drink.

"I've never gone commando," said Rosalie proudly, as I took my shot. Luckily, Alice joined me on this one. It was finally my turn to ask a question and I had been trying to think of something for a while before it finally hit me.

"Come on Swan, I'm getting parched over here," snipped Edward.

"I've never had a one night stand," I said fiercely. Everyone drank but me. "Fucking whores," I said sarcastically. We continued with the questioning until three full bottles of vodka were gone and we were all feeling pretty good. I learned that Alice had sucked someone's toes before and that Edward has been spanked sexually, enjoys porno mags and has slept with an older woman. He was definitely trouble. Emmett and Rosalie took a lot of shots relating to the sexual stuff, so I quickly assumed that they did the stuff together and thought nothing of it.

I stood up carefully, wobbling slightly from having sat on the floor drinking for the past two hours and Edward gave me curious look.

"What the fuck? Can't a girl go take a piss?" I slurred drunkenly, staring at Edward. Alice jumped up from her spot easily, like she had been taking shots of water the whole time.

"I'm coming with you. Girls never go to the bathroom alone," she shouted. Apparently when Alice was drunk she could function normally, except for the volume of her voice. I strolled carefully over to the bathroom with Alice following close behind. I tried to shut the door on her, but she pushed her way in. "What? I'm not gonna look at anything Bella," she yelled again for the entire apartment to hear. We could hear laughter coming from the living room and I just closed the door and took my place on the toilet. Suddenly, Alice started whispering to me as she fixed her hair in the mirror.

"Wow, Edward so likes you," she said casually, not realizing that she had actually shocked me.

"What the hell?" I said curiously.

"Haven't you noticed it? He has spent the past like 36 hours with you, made sure you got home safe last night, beat the shit out of your ex… twice and he hasn't been able to take his eyes off of you all night. Don't tell me you hadn't seen it?" she asked slowly, followed by a light chuckle. Apparently I had been that blind. "Honestly Bella, he wants you."

"Whatever Alice. You can think whatever your little toe sucking mind wants to. We're just friends, and that's all I want anyways. I just broke up with my boyfriend 4 hours ago, cut me some slack," I said quietly, hoping that no one in the main room could hear us. I flushed the toilet and stood up, walking over to the sink beside Alice to wash my hands. As we headed back into the living room, Alice told me to keep an eye on how Edward looks at me, and she was right. The moment we sat back on the floor, his deep green eyes were practically staring at me, like he was trying to bore a hole through my brain.

"Let's go back to our place," said Alice as she roamed around the room easily. "I'm tired of the fucking smell in here." I nodded in agreement with her and we all stood up to get ready to leave. Jasper called a cab, specifically asking for a minivan that could take all of us back to the dorms. As we waited by the door a few minutes later, Edward placed his arm on my shoulder smoothly and led us out to the elevator. _What the fuck??_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating the story. Usually I would have posted a chapter last night, but life happens. Then, I had to watch Twilight with the step-daughter on DVD. I hope to post chapter 7 later today.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

I have no fucking idea why I put my arm around Bella's shoulder. I think I wanted to simply touch her and hold her closer to me, but if she asks, I'm just gonna claim it was a drunken reflex. It had become a habit in the last few years to blame my old friend alcohol when I didn't want to admit the truth about something. It usually worked too. I wasn't sure it would work with Bella though, she seemed way more observant than I gave her credit for. We were back at the dorms only twenty minutes later. Emmett had graciously filled a cooler with various booze and beer so that we could continue our party in the girls' suite. When we got off the elevator on their floor, we could hear shitty ass party music and a lot of voices.

"Fucking eh, there's a floor party," said Emmett excitedly. All of the rooms had their doors open and people were wandering from each room, meeting the other people who now lived near them. Alice pulled out her key and let us all into their suite. As Jasper started setting up all the alcohol on the counter, I smiled happily as I remembered beating the crap out of Mike in this very room only a few hours ago.

"I'm gonna go get changed," said Bella as she walked past me towards her bedroom. Suddenly, Alice was over to her like a flash and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her in the opposite direction.

"Your fashion sense is beyond hideous Bella. Tonight you're wearing something of mine and don't give me that look," she yelled as she dragged Bella unwillingly to her room, with Rose following closely behind them. Jasper handed me and Emmett each a beer and we sat down on the couch to wait patiently for them. Every so often we would hear Bella yelling at Alice about something and I really hoped she wasn't turning her into some generic slut, like a lot of other party girls.

It was very boring sitting there, while people milled around outside the rooms. Jasper, getting tired of waiting, headed into Rosalie's room and fished around in her boxes until he found her stereo. He set it up in the living room area and found the same campus radio station everyone else on the floor was listening to.

"It's so fucking lame," he said as he returned to his seat. "We're just sitting here waiting. What would become of our reputation if some hot chicks stuck their heads in here and saw the three of us sitting alone, with no music?"

"Whatever dude," said Emmett. "You and Alice are practically joined at the hip after only 24 hours. What do you care what some hot chick thinks about you?" Jasper nodded slightly, as if to acknowledge his relationship with Alice.

"Well then, we're helping out Edward over here. The only thing he has done since we moved to Seattle is fight or drink," said Jasper, trying to be helpful.

"He's got Bella, so he's all good now," said Emmett confidently.

"I do not have Bella," I answered nervously. "We're just friends." Emmett and Jasper both raised their eyebrows inquiringly, obviously not believing me. I just shook my head and took a long swig of my beer.

"Where the hell are they?" spat Emmett impatiently. Then, as if on cue, the girls came out of Alice's bedroom all dressed up. Bella was still stumbling a bit from the drinking, but it was better than before, the booze must be wearing off. As she walked into the kitchen to get herself another drink, I was finally able to see what Alice had forced her into wearing.

It wasn't as bad as I had expected. She had on a layered tank top and a very short and tight pair of khaki colored shorts. Bella's long brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and she even looked like she had on a bit of makeup. Rosalie obviously got her hands on Bella too.

"Looking good bitches," shouted Jasper. "Can we please get our drink on now?" They all nodded in agreement and each took a vodka shot with a beer chaser, finally coming to join us in the living room. Alice settled herself contentedly beside Jasper, while Rosalie practically hopped onto Emmett's lap and got comfy. The guys were all watching me carefully as Bella came over beside me, and sat down on the floor next to me.

We each took another shot and had some casual conversation about classes when a small group of students wandered in and introduced themselves. There were two guys and one girl, but I didn't pay too much attention to them as I was distracted by Bella twirling her hair in her fingers again.

"I'm Jason, this is Scarlet and the geek on the end is Patrick," said the rather plain looking guy trying to break the ice. The closeness of the six of us probably seemed pretty intimidating to them, but I didn't give a shit.

"I'm Alice," of course she had to be the polite one, "and these are my roommates Rosalie and Bella. The guys are Emmett, Jasper and the grumpy one is Edward," she said motioning towards me with her hand like she was some damned game show host.

"I'm not fucking grumpy," I said angrily as Bella reached for my hand. I thought for a moment she was trying to calm me down, but instead she just used it to stand up. She was being weird around me since we finished out game of 'I never' and I couldn't figure out why. She strolled over to the kitchen to fix herself another drink, when the plain kid, Jason, walked over to her to talk. I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched their interaction. Even though it didn't seem like anything special, why did I feel like I wanted to kick his ass like I had Mike?

_Did she just laugh at him, fuck me._

**Bella POV**

I stood by the counter and started to pour myself another drink. The thoughts of my breakup with Mike still ran through my head but the more I drank, the less vivid they were. I was about to head back to my seat on the floor beside Edward, when the guy we just met, John… Joe… Jason, something like that, came over to talk to me.

"Bella, right?" he asked indifferently as he laid his beer down on the counter beside mine. I nodded my head and downed another shot. "Where ya from?"

"I just relocated here from the seventh circle of hell," I said sarcastically.

"I bet the weather is nice there this time of year," he joked and I actually laughed. It must have been the effects of the booze because it wasn't really that funny.

"Where are you from?"

"Pittsburgh"

"Oh yeah, my gal Alice over there is from York, same state. Cool." It wasn't actually that cool, but I was struggling for conversation with him. I was about to say something else but when I pointed out Alice to him, I noticed Edward was watching us. The moment he saw me catch him staring, he went back to his conversation with Jasper.

"Yeah, same state. She's down closer to Philly though. So what's the deal with your group anyways? You guys seem so intense," he asked inquisitively. I just shook my head, not sure how to answer that question.

"Well, Emmett and Rosalie came here together from Chicago and have been dating for a few years. Jasper and Alice are… well… they are something too. Edward is best friends with Emmett and Jasper."

"So you're not with Edward, because it seems that way," Jason said strangely. I was so not interested in getting involved with this guy, but I didn't lie to him.

"Edward and I are just friends. He helped me out of a shitty situation recently, so we're friends." Jason just nodded his head as I began to offer more information. "I had a boyfriend until about 8 hours ago. We had gotten into a fight, he cheated, Edward kicked his ass for me, and it was all very special. I think they are planning to turn it into a movie of the week." I added sarcastically. Jason laughed and then grabbed his cell phone out of his back pocket. _Oh shit, he wants my number._

"Do you think it would be really awkward if I asked for your number?"

"Honestly, yes. I'm seriously not interested in anything or anyone right now, but it is very flattering. If I change my mind though, I know what floor you live on," I said, offering him a bit of hope, even though I probably would never follow through.

"That's alright, I should know better than to hit on a girl 8 hours after she breaks up with someone," he said dejectedly as he walked back to join his group of friends. I finally went back to my seat on the floor beside Edward, while everyone else decided to play a drinking game based on the gender of each person who popped in to say hi. It was stupid really, but what could you expect out of 8 massively drunken college freshmen.

"Not me," I said feigning illness to avoid playing. "My liver and I had a quiet conversation and it's telling me to quit while I am ahead," I joked. Alice looked at me a bit remorsefully and went back to her conversation about open toed shoes, awaiting the next person to visit our suite. I dropped my tired head against Edward's knee and then I felt him playing with my hair, running the soft strands ever so gently through his fingers. It was very relaxing and soothing.

"Don't turn on the light," I heard Alice's voice whisper to someone. I had no idea where I was, but I knew where I wasn't, and that was on the ground. I groggily opened my eyes and saw that Edward was cradling me in his arms, about to lay me down on my bed. I should have seemed shocked, but I wasn't.

"What time is it?" I croaked softly into his neck.

"It's almost three Bella. Party's over and you've been asleep for almost an hour," he murmured as he gently put my head on my pillow. "Em and Rose are already asleep in her room."

"Where's Alice?" I asked curiously, knowing that she had just been in my room with us.

"She just left to go to bed too," he said carelessly. He slid my shoes off and gently pulled my blanket over me. "I'm gonna go sleep on the couch." As he turned to leave, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards me.

"You can stay here in my bed Cullen," I was nervous and not entirely sure of his reaction. He cocked his eyebrow quizzically, as if to confirm that it was okay. "I'm not gonna bite, and it's gotta be a hell of a lot better than that shitty couch, but stay on top of the blankets." He stumbled around in the dark while removing his shoes before climbing carefully onto the opposite side of the bed. He positioned himself on his side in such a way that if he was touching me, we'd definitely be spooning. I felt his hands playing with my hair again and before I knew it, I was asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: thanks to everyone for the great reviews. I know everyone is looking for them to get in some loving, but be patient, it's coming. Just not in this chapter!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

The next morning was just as awkward as I thought it would be. When I finally woke up, Edward was still sleeping soundly, nestled up next to me. He looked so perfect; I couldn't bring myself to move, so I didn't. I laid my head back on my pillow and was thankful that I didn't wake up with a headache. I started thinking of all the things I needed to get done before classes started tomorrow morning. Alice and I discussed heading to the campus bookstore to pick up our remaining texts yesterday, so I hoped she would still be up for it today.

"Good Morning," I finally heard from the other side of my bed about half an hour after I had woken up.

"Morning," I said as I adjusted myself to a more comfortable position on the bed. He sat up slowly and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "Have a good sleep?"

"Surprisingly yes. I thought I might fall off this tiny bed a few times, but it was fine."

"It's not that tiny, it's like a double. Not everyone can have a king in their bedrooms Cullen," I joked with him. We could hear noise out in the common room, so we just nodded our heads in agreement and left the room to join everyone else. They were not entirely shocked to see us come from my room together, but still they still acted surprised.

"Well, Edward… so much for you guys being just friends," said Jasper as he laughed at his own joke.

"Fuck off Whitlock," I answered sarcastically as I helped myself to sip of Alice's orange juice. Edward just shrugged his shoulders and smiled happily.

"Ok, come on dude, we're heading out. The girls have shit to do and so do we," said Emmett as he headed towards the door. He gave Rose a quick kiss and then I watched as Jasper and Alice practically mauled each other. Even Edward was getting uncomfortable because he punched Jasper on the shoulder and cleared his throat to get his attention.

"See ya later Bella," he added casually as he followed Em and Jazz out of the suite. I didn't even have five minutes to peace and quiet before Rosalie started asking questions.

"You slept with Edward?"

"No, Rose, I didn't. He slept on top of the covers and I was under them. I felt bad that he would be sleeping on our crappy couch." I was honest with her, even if she didn't believe me. Alice looked at me with a nosy look; I could tell she didn't believe me either. "Alice, I know you think he likes me, but seriously, it's nothing but friendship. So let's move onto a new topic."

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Alice and I got the rest of our textbooks while Rosalie finally unpacked her boxes and organized her room. We spent our last night without school just watching chick flicks, eating ice cream and chatting like best friends. We got along so well, it was a bit disconcerting. I figured that colleges just picked roommates by pulling names out of a hat, but in our case, it was a blessing. Without Rosalie and Alice I never would have gotten over the mess that was Mike Newton.

The rest of the week flew by in a blur of lectures and assignments. I ended up showing up late to two of my lectures on Wednesday because I couldn't find the rooms they were being held in, but it got better as the week went on. By Friday, I had a ton of homework that I wasn't eager to touch, so I brought my bags back to the dorm and texted Alice to see if she wanted to meet for lunch. My last class on Friday was at 11am, so I had all afternoon to relax. She finally responded at one and said she would meet me at one of the on campus cafes in half an hour, so I ran out the dorm and headed to join her.

As I sat waiting for Alice to arrive, I noticed Edward in line to get something to eat. I was about to go say hi, or make some smartass comment, but he wasn't alone. Standing next to him was a stunning red head. She had long hair, long legs and was one of the prettier girls I had seen on campus. They looked like they were a lot more than friends, and I felt a sharp pang of jealously. She was leaning into him and chatting amiably about something, when I was brought out of my daze by Alice.

"Bella," she shouted as she walked into the restaurant. Everyone could hear her, including Edward who turned his head and looked directly at me. I didn't acknowledge him and he went back to his conversation with big red.

"Let's go get drunk," I said to Alice as I stood up, grabbed her hand and led her outside to the patio.

"What's going on, I thought you were hungry?" she asked curiously.

"I was, I just lost my appetite," I admitted as I dragged her back towards our dorm.

"Seriously Bella, what the hell is going on?" she asked furiously as we got into our suite a mere fifteen minutes later.

"It's nothing. I just decided I wasn't hungry. Now let's go put your fake ID to good use, I need something strong." I said, trying to sound sincere. She wasn't buying it at all, but she shrugged her shoulders, dropped her book bag on her bed and grabbed her wallet. Forty five minutes later we were back in our dorm with a small assortment of alcohol and I didn't waste any time jumping right in. I was on my third shot of Goldschlager when Rosalie wandered in with Emmett close behind her.

"Bella… starting a wee bit early are we?" asked Emmett as he looked over at the booze on the counter.

"Bella's having a breakdown again," said Alice sarcastically.

"I am not Alice!" I shouted at her. "I had a rough week and my classes finish early on Friday so I am celebrating." Alice still didn't believe me, so I just shook my head in anger and plopped down on the couch. Rosalie joined me in a quick shot and then headed back to her final class of the day. Emmett stayed behind with Alice and me to watch a little TV.

"So ladies, there is a party in our building tonight, are you guys coming? asked Emmett as he polished off another bag of potato chips. Alice and I had already warned Rosalie earlier this week that if Em would be spending so much time here than he should chip in for groceries considering he ate more than the rest of us. She clearly hadn't talked to him about it yet.

"Is everyone else going?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, everyone but Edward. He's got some stupid school thing on campus and won't be back till late. Come on, there will be free booze… " Emmett knew I couldn't resist the lure of free alcohol, so I nodded my head quickly and watched as Alice did the same. "Oh, and that damned smell is finally gone, so are the nasty ass couches." Emmett sounded so pleased with himself but I knew he had nothing to do with it. When Rosalie came back three hours later, we all hopped into a cab and headed to the boys apartment, where Jasper was already waiting.

"Started without us again, Bella?" questioned Jasper as I fumbled into the kitchen and poured myself another shot. He handed me a cold beer and I just gave him a look of aggravation.

"Rough week," I lied. We all got comfortable on their new microfiber couches until just after 10, with Jasper working as the bartender. He was keeping a close on us to make sure that no harm came to the new furniture he had spent way too long picking out. Edward still hadn't shown up and my drinking had slowed considerably, to the point of feeling sober. I didn't want to be there.

"Everything okay?" asked Rosalie, clearly noticing the shift in my mood, as she got ready to head to the main floor for the party.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling like shit. I think I'm gonna head home and pass out," I said, trying to sound somewhat sick. I'm not sure she bought it, but she nodded her head to let me know she was okay with it.

"I'll check on you when I get home later. Emmett has an early practice tomorrow so I'm gonna sleep at the suite," she said pleasantly. I left the apartment a few minutes later, opting to walk back instead of taking a cab because it was such a beautiful night. I was almost two blocks away when I heard someone panting and out of breath, behind me. I figured it was just a jogger until I heard them calling my name. I turned around suddenly to find Edward Cullen catching up to me quickly.

**Edward POV**

When I pulled my Volvo in front of our building, I glimpsed Bella walking away in the direction of the UW dorms. I parked in my designated space in the underground parking and rushed back to street level to see her again, but she was gone. I thought I could see her still walking west, even though she was a few blocks away, so I took my chance and ran as quickly as I could to try to catch up with her. As I got closer, I finally called her name and she stopped. She turned around to face me and seemed surprised to see me, but not very happy.

I hadn't seen her in almost a week, when I finally saw her at the campus coffee shop earlier today with Alice. I wouldn't have even known she was there if Alice hadn't called out for her. I turned to look at her and wave, but she didn't acknowledge me, even though I knew she had seen me. She just bolted out of the place, towing Alice behind her. It was a very odd scene.

"Where ya going Swan?" I asked breathlessly as I finally stood in front of her. She turned and started walking west again, as though ignoring my question, but I went with her anyways.

"I have an appointment for a lobotomy in the morning," she quipped sarcastically.

"Sounds like fun."

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be a fucking blast," she added angrily. She was definitely mad about something, maybe even mad at me, but I wasn't sure yet.

"I saw you at the coffee joint today. I went to go say 'hi' to you, but you had disappeared into thin air," I mentioned casually, hoping she would explain what happened.

"Yeah, life of a college student, places to go, people to see," she said cynically. Something was clearly wrong with her. She wasn't looking me in the eye and I was struggling to get conversation from her. I grabbed her shoulders and held her still, forcing her to look at me.

"What is wrong? Did I do something?" I questioned painfully, as she shook her head and apologized.

"Sorry Cullen, I'm just not feeling well. I'll see ya later okay?" Bella was trying to get rid of me. I was about to nod my head and then go back to the apartment, but I thought better of it.

"No, it's not okay," I started. "First of all, I would be a complete dickhead if I let a sick girl walk home alone through the mean streets of Seattle. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something bad happened to you like being mauled by a bear or a freak on land ferry boat accident." Bella just looked at me as though I was insane. "What, it could happen," I insisted.

"Whatever Cullen."

"Other potential disasters may include tripping on the sidewalk and then falling into a shallow puddle and drowing."

"There's been no rain for a few days dipshit." She was finally becoming more talkative, even if was to insult my lame attempt at humor.

"You could get taken out by a parade float," I suggested. "Sure Christmas is four months away and those crazy things reach a top speed of like five miles per hour, but it could happen too." She laughed heartily and then punched me gently on the shoulder.

"Thanks, I needed the laugh." We continued walking silently together and I noticed how she was looking really cute tonight, especially as she strolled along kicking stones and fallen pinecones that were in her path. She would even stare at some of the oak and maple trees that lined the streets in awe, as though she had never seen any before. This was just another reason why I liked her so much. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her iPod, offering me an ear bud. I grabbed it eagerly, curious to know what she was listening to. It was one of my favorites, "Grace," by Jeff Buckley.

"Good choice," I commended her and she smiled. "I'm a little surprised actually."

"What did you expect? Britney?" she laughed carelessly and I just shrugged my shoulders because I never knew what to expect with her.

"Swan, you never did tell me your major," I remarked inquisitively.

"It's English, but I'm thinking of changing it to photography, or maybe even just minoring in photography, and you?"

"Music," I said assertively. She snickered at me quietly and we continued walking, simply enjoying each other's company. Almost two hours had passed when we finally crossed the front lawn of her dorm. I looked at her curiously, not quite sure what to do at this point.

"Are you gonna come up?" she asked softly as she fished her keys out of her pocket and shoved her iPod back in.

"Do you want me to come up?"

"Whatever Cullen, come or don't come, it's up to you," she smiled sweetly, but was acting aloof. I didn't know what to do. I stood outside and watched her unlock the main door to the building. After she walked in and the door was about to shut behind her completely, locking me out, when I rushed up to it and whipped it open, following her eagerly up to her suite. _What the hell am I doing?_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, so this one is kind of a long chapter. I hope you all enjoy and review your little hearts out!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

I wasn't surprised when Edward agreed to come up to the suite with me. However, I was surprised that I had actually asked him. It was very unlike me to be so forward, but I didn't want him to go just yet. Our conversations were just getting good, and he looked so gorgeous in his dark faded jeans and black t-shirt. As we were walking through some of the streets to the dorms, I thought he caught me staring at him a few times, so I would pretend to be interested in the trees. It was stupid, but I didn't have much else to look at.

"So, what's on the agenda for this morning?" said Edward as we walked into the suite and turned on the lights. I noticed the clock on the microwave, and it said it was 12:15. No wonder I was feeling tired. I wasn't tired enough to go to sleep yet though.

"Well Cullen, if you weren't here, I would probably just lay in my room listening to some music and fall asleep."

"Sounds good to me, let's go," he said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards my room. My brain was telling my body to stop, but it didn't listen and before I knew it, we were sitting on my bed sorting through my CD collection. Well, Edward was basically critiquing my albums.

"Swan... seriously?" he asked jokingly as he held up a copy of a Mariah Carey CD that Mike had given me a few months ago. "What's next, the Jonas Brothers?"

"Actually, that was a gift from Mike, so feel free to destroy it," I added happily. I watched as Edward stood up, opened my window and threw it out onto the lawn of the dorms. We laughed effortlessly together and he sat back down, sorting through another pile of music.

"Ok, this I can handle," he said as he held up my most recent purchase, 'kings of leon'.

"Yeah, I just got that last week," I mentioned, as I watched him run his fingers through his shaggy hair and separate my CD's into piles. "Am I passing your test of what is acceptable?"

"You're doing better than most."

"Do you do this a lot? Sort through everyone's music collections as though you work for Rolling Stone and are writing an article on the music habits of the American college student?" I was yammering on. I was nervous. He just looked at me and raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Honestly, no. I only do it with close friends, that kind of thing. I want to make sure that the people in my life have decent taste in music. I cannot be friends with someone who listens to Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston or something like that," he said haughtily. "I believe I have great taste in music, who wouldn't want the benefit of my knowledge?"

Edward stood up from the bed again and wandered over to my CD player, thumbing a disc absentmindedly as he waited for the disc changer to open. He gently placed one of my discs in and we waited silently for it to start as he sat back down beside me, lying on the bed with his hands behind his head. He was comfortable, and I was sitting cross legged beside him, unsure of what to do.

The music started slowly from the speakers and I immediately knew it was Amos Lee. The song was slow, very melodic and haunting. I had loved it for years and was actually stunned to see he chose it. I looked down at him and his eyes were closed, his face was wide with a big smile and he looked utterly relaxed. I decided to lie down beside him, and the moment my head hit the pillow, I felt his fingers reach up and start slowly playing with my hair. I remembered that last time he had done that I had fallen asleep and I didn't want to do that just yet, so I sat back up slowly, his hands dropping from my hair.

Edward opened his eyes and looked at me with disappointment. He probably thought I had just rejected him, but all I wanted to do was stay awake.

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely.

"It's okay. I'm just not ready to fall asleep yet, and when you play with my hair I tend to pass out quickly," I admitted timidly. He just smiled his big wide smile and leaned back again to listen to the next song on the album. I stood up from the bed and went to go grab some pajamas from my dresser. If we were staying up a bit longer, I was at least getting comfortable. I was almost to the door when I felt Edward grab my wrist gently.

"Where are you going Swan?"

"I'm going to brush my teeth and get some comfortable clothes on, now fricking relax Cullen," I said sarcastically as I headed into the bathroom. When I came out a few minutes later, he was sitting back up on the bed talking on his phone.

"Emmett, screw off. I'm fine. Seriously." There was a short pause and then he started talking again. "What are you, my dad? I'm out; I'll be home when I get home. If the apartment isn't on fire and no one is dead, then don't bother calling," he said angrily as he hung up on him.

"Is everything okay?" I wondered, as I put my old clothes in the hamper at the bottom of my closet and went back to join him on the bed.

"Yeah, it's fine. He's just over-protective. I hadn't called since like 2 this afternoon and he thought the worst, like usual. He noticed my car was parked at the apartment, and I was nowhere to be found. Apparently I'm not allowed to have a life," he joked as he finally took off his shoes and lay back down on the bed. "It's your choice now Bella, put on anything you want," he said as he pointed to the big pile of apparently acceptable CD's on my desk. I sorted through them aimlessly looking for something to help me fall asleep. I pulled out an Elliott Smith CD and popped it into the player, turning the volume down slightly. I climbed onto the bed beside Edward and watched him enjoy the music I had chosen.

"What are we doing Bella?" he asked softly, as he reached for my hair again and started running his fingers through it.

"I'm not sure what you mean. We are listening to music and hopefully I am about to fall asleep," I answered uncertainly.

"Do you want me to stay?" I was dumbfounded because I didn't know what I wanted; I was just letting everything happen. I didn't plan to walk home with him for two hours, joking and talking about meaningless shit. I didn't plan to let him come up to my room, and I hadn't planned to let him stay over, but every fiber of my being didn't want him to leave.

"I don't want you to go," I stuttered nervously. He pulled his body back up to a sitting position and was practically staring through me. He reached his hand up and softly wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, pulling my face closer to his and then he kissed me. It was gentle, soft and very tender. Our lips only touched for a few moments, but it was heavenly. His sweet breath rolled over me as he pulled back from my face and then did something unexpected. He apologized.

**Edward POV**

"I'm sorry Bella," I said warmly. I hadn't meant to kiss her, but I did and it was great. The moment she told me she didn't want me to go, all I wanted to do was hold her close to me and my first instinct was to kiss her. I didn't regret it, but I didn't want her to be upset either. Unfortunately, when I apologized, she looked disappointed.

"It's okay. This is what listening to Amos Lee and Elliott Smith does to people," she laughed nervously and stood from the bed, lowering the sheets down so that she could climb in.

"No, you do it to people," I replied honestly. She clearly had no idea the effect she had on the opposite sex.

"Thanks, I suppose." It was kind of a back handed compliment. I should have probably said something about how she affects me, but at this point I wasn't thinking properly. Yet another effect of spending time with Bella.

"Ok, I'm taking back the 'I'm sorry'." I said with a laugh, hoping to break the tension that had just formed between us.

"You are very confusing Cullen," she said as she rolled over onto her side, facing me. "Did you want to kiss me?"

"Yes, Yes I did," I admitted confidently.

"Then don't apologize. You didn't see me slapping you or kicking you out did you?" Was she telling me she liked it? I think Bella liked kissing me. I felt like I shouldn't push my luck though.

"Just so you know I didn't intend to kiss you tonight. We were having such a good time and then you didn't want me to go, and I just wanted it. I hope it doesn't make things awkward between us cause you're like my best friend these days. Jasper has Alice now and other than the few people I talk to in my classes; you are the only person I talk to. Sometimes you are the only person I want to talk to," I confessed freely. I had a feeling that I would be saying more to Bella tonight than I initially planned.

"I think that is one of the sweetest things I have ever heard," she said as leaned her head against her hand, which was propped up by her elbow. "I just have one issue. I'm not ready for anything romantic right now," she said as my heart sunk in my chest.

"What does that mean? " I asked, trying to hide my hurt.

"It means that I think we should just continue as friends for now and see where things go. I've been single all of six days, and I'm not looking to go sleep around with the first guy who shows even the slightest interest. No offence. I just want some time to be Bella, and who knows what the future might hold?" She was leaving the door open to a possible relationship with me, but she wasn't ready just yet.

"So, it's a maybe… but a not right now?" I asked hopefully. She nodded tiredly and I smiled gently at her before I kissed her gently on the forehead. I laid down beside her and was about to start playing with her hair when I suddenly sat back up. "Mind if I get comfortable if I promise no funny business?"

"Fine… no funny business," she repeated. I hopped off the bed and turned off the light. I pulled off my jeans, leaving me in my comfortable boxer shorts, and climbed into bed beside her, under the covers. She gave me a small smile and I reached up for her hair again, pulling it gently between my fingers and lulling her to sleep, and I fell asleep almost as soon as she did.

We had only been asleep for about an hour, when Bella's bedroom door suddenly opened and in stumbled Rosalie and Alice. Bella stirred slightly, but I was completely woken up by their loud noises.

"So much for being sick," said Rosalie sarcastically before she realized it was me in the room. "Edward, is that you?" she whispered curiously.

"Yes, now get the fuck out. You're piss drunk and Bella and I were fast asleep before you came in here." Bella moved again and I waved my hand motioning the girls to leave. Alice pushed Rose from the room and the door shut gently. The moment they were out of the room, I gently jumped up from the bed and locked the door, eager to have no further interruptions in our sleep.

Bella woke up a few moments before me the next morning, and I desperately wanted to lean down and give her a small kiss. I didn't though, trying to maintain the boundaries of friendship that we had agreed on the night before. She gave me a tentative smile and then rolled out of bed.

"I'm gonna go put on a pot of coffee. Put on your pants and come join me," she said as she unlocked the door and headed out to the common room. No one else was awake yet, which was a bit of a blessing. I had some time to tell Bella about what had happened when she was asleep. I was trying to think of a way to explain it to her, but she ended up mentioning it. "Did I hear Rosalie last night?"

"Yeah, when they came home around 2, Rose and Alice came to check on you and were a little surprised to find me there." She just shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"It's not like it's the first time you've been in my bed. They shouldn't seem so shocked," she said as she let her fingers dance gently on the counter, in an impatient manner, waiting for the coffee to brew.

"I think they think that there is more going on between us that just friends."

"Oh, I know there is more going on with you guys," said Alice as she sauntered into the room in a big terry cloth bathroom, with her hair pointing in a million different directions.

"Ok Alice, enlighten me as to what is going on between Edward and me," said Bella confidently. She reached into the cabinets for three coffee mugs, waiting for Alice's analysis.

"Well, Edward is clearly into you," started Alice. "That has been obvious to everyone since the very first day you guys met. Bella, you definitely have feelings for the guy, but you probably aren't ready for anything major, especially not sleeping together. Am I close?" I looked over to Bella; this was her fight, not mine. I was also very curious to know Bella's thoughts on the discussion. I was let down, because all she did was nod her head in agreement before pouring some sugar and creamer into her coffee.

Alice and I each fixed our own coffees in silence as Bella looked through the fridge, trying to think of something to make for breakfast.

"Pancakes?" she offered, and Alice and I both accepted enthusiastically as we went to sit on the couch. Bella insisted she didn't need any help, and neither of us wanted to offend her, or felt up to helping anyways.

"So Alice, maybe you can help me out with something?" I asked casually. She nodded her head and I continued on my mission. "So you say that Bella likes me, and vice versa, so in your humble opinion, how long is too long before you ask someone on a date?"

"Well, that's different. If it was anyone else, I would say ask them out immediately. However, because you want to ask out Bella, who was recently cheated on and dumped her boyfriend after finding you kicking the shit out of him in front of a record store, I would say at least a month." I dropped my mouth wide open. Could I really wait a month? I looked over and noticed Bella smiling as she listened to our conversation and mixed her pancake batter.

"Ok, a month. I can handle that," I said confidently, even though I knew I wasn't as sure as I was implying.

"Doesn't mean you still can't try," Alice said as she gave me a not so subtle wink. "I dumped my boyfriend hours before I moved here and Jasper and I hooked up the same day. Every person is different."

"Fricking Floozy," yelled Bella at Alice as she laughed at her story.

"Whatever Bella, at least I go after what I want," she said sarcastically.

Suddenly Bella bolted across the living room towards me and hopped up on my lap, straddling me. She reached both hands up and kissed me forcefully. My mouth opened slowly and her tongue licked my bottom lip lightly. I pushed my tongue out to meet hers and started to run my fingers up her back tenderly. Then just as quickly as the kiss had started, Bella jumped off my lap and went back to her pancakes.

"Thanks Alice, I burnt one," muttered Bella from the kitchen.

"Yeah, thanks Alice," I said in frustration, though my face held a huge smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I initially wrote one super long chapter 9. When I noticed the word length, I opted to make it two chapters, with 9 being Edwards Point of View and 10 being Bella's. Enjoy!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

_One Month._ I kept thinking about Alice's advice that maybe if I kept trying Bella may eventually relent. Then again, knowing Bella, after one month she probably still wouldn't be ready. The next week was extremely hectic. I had a research project due and Bella had kept mumbling something about a literary analysis when I finally spoke to her on Monday afternoon. We talked easily for a bit about the rest of our weekend, hers spent studying and mine spent composing. We agreed to get together Friday after her last class to do something. Nothing special, just something. Of course, I was thinking something more like a romantic dinner and her coming back to my place so I could ravish her body.

When I finally saw her again on Friday, it was outside the lecture hall where she had her last class of the day. I technically had one more class that day, but it had been cancelled because the professor had to run out of town on an emergency. I was planning to skip it even if it wasn't cancelled. I saw her stroll out of the room and really wanted to grab her hand in mind and walk towards the dorms together like regular couples do, but I thought better of it, especially since we weren't even dating.

I saw her notice me and I gave her a small tentative wave, waiting as she finished up her conversation. When most of the students had left, I went to join Bella who was still talking to a tall brunette student about Walt Whitman.

"Oh, Lindsey… this is Edward Cullen," said Bella nonchalantly as I stood beside her.

"Nice to meet you," I said as I extended my hand, being polite.

"Same here," said Lindsey as she gave me the once over. "Bella, you never told me you had a boyfriend."

"I don't," started Bella before I interrupted her.

"We're complicated," I said as I put my arm around Bella's shoulders, pulling her into me. She gave me a fretful look before finishing her conversation.

"Well, I'll see you in class on Monday," said Lindsey as she stalked down the corridor with a disappointed look upon her face. The moment she was out of sight, Bella pushed my arm off her shoulder and we headed back to her suite.

"What was that about Cullen?" she asked almost immediately.

"I didn't want her to get the impression that I was available," I said bluntly. "We might not be dating Bella, but I don't want to date anyone else. I figured the easiest thing to do was to say I was taken, and then I would avoid rejecting her." Bella just gave a big smile and kept walking.

"Yeah, she was practically undressing you with her eyes," laughed Bella. We took our time with the usually 15 minute stroll across campus to her dorm, talking amiably about things that had happened in the week. My car was still parked over by the music building, but I wanted to spend more time with her, so I didn't mention it.

"So, Jasper needs to start sleeping at your place again," Bella mentioned with disgust in her voice. "I wandered into the kitchen on Wednesday morning to head to class and there he stood in his boxers, at full attention, sipping his cup of coffee, like nothing was happening. I completely ignored him and practically ran out of the room." I laughed at this, because this sounded like typical Jasper.

"I should have a talk with him," I joked, acting all upset and mad. Although, it did make me somewhat uncomfortable, maybe I would end up talking to him about it. I had noticed that Em and Jasper were rarely around these days, thanks to their love lives, but I was happy to have the apartment to myself during the week to focus on my homework and assignments. Suddenly I had a brilliant idea.

"Listen, if Jasper and Em are over here and are driving you nuts, just call. You can come over and do your homework or whatever at our place. It's gotta be a hell of a lot quieter than the dorm," I offered. She shook her head in agreement and I shot her a quick smile.

When we finally got back to her dorm, we weren't alone for too long before Alice & Jasper showed up, eager to start the weekend. They both seemed surprised to see us chatting in the common room, but didn't say anything. I'm sure if Jasper had something to say, he would corner me back at our apartment and ask me what was up. Suddenly, Bella's cell phone rang. She rolled her eyes and hesitated before answering.

"Hi Dad," she mumbled as she stood up and started to walk out of the room. "Thanks Dad, yes I got the gift yesterday in the mail."

All three of us looked at each other with curious expressions. Bella obviously hadn't mentioned any special event and then a light bulb went off in Alice's head.

"I bet it's her birthday," said Alice excitedly. I could practically see fireworks going off inside her eyes, as she thought of planning a lavish party for her. Once Bella had finished her call, she slowly came back into the room with a sour expression on her face.

"What the hell Bella… is it your birthday?" Bella nodded her head in confirmation and Alice got even more excited. "Sweet, we have a party to plan!"

"I don't want a party," said Bella apologetically. "If I did, don't you think I would have mentioned something?"

"So, what do you want Swan?" I asked with concern.

"Let's just hang out at your place tonight, the six of us. I need a night off campus," she admitted timidly. I was frustrated as hell that she hadn't even mentioned once that it was her 18th birthday. I had no time to do anything even remotely special.

"I think that can be arranged," said Jasper as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to call someone, most likely Emmett or Rosalie.

"Are you mad?" Bella asked, noticing my overall change in mood.

"No, I just wish I had known, that's all," I admitted, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Ok, that's it. We're having a big drunken slumber party at the boys' place," yelled Alice loudly as she jumped out of her room with Jasper following close behind her. "Edward, you and Jasper head back to your place to prepare and we will be there in a few hours, sound good?" asked Alice eagerly.

"Sure," I agreed as I pictured Bella in her pajamas in my living room, possibly even my bedroom. "You're good with this Bella?"

"Yeah, it sounds perfect. A nice drunken night in with my best friends," she said cheerfully.

"Rose and Emmett are going to pick up a few movies and some liquid courage, and we'll be over around 6. Order some pizza before we get there," ordered Alice again, clearly talking to Jasper. Apparently in the past two minutes she had managed to throw together an entire party. That girl never ceased to amaze me. It was probably one of the reasons Jasper was so damned smitten with her.

Jasper and I left the apartment a few minutes later and walked back to campus quickly to get my car.

"Dude, Alice needs us to do a run to the store," he told me the moment we got into the car. "She's calling some party store to order balloons and we have to go pick them up. She was gonna order some big cake, but I told her we would all throw up if we mixed liquor and cake."

"Good call," I said as I wondered if we would have time for me to pick up a gift for her. The bigger problem I had was that I had no idea what to get the girl I wanted to date, but was already my close friend. I thought about flowers, but that would be away to obvious. They would also eventually die, and then she would throw them out. Why do people buy flowers anyways? Jasper wasn't any help when I asked his advice.

"Hmm… my instincts say schnapps and a condom. That's always worked for you before with girls," he laughed heartily and I glared at him in anger.

"Thanks for the suggestion asswipe, I'll get right on that," I said sarcastically as we pulled into the parking lot of the party store a few blocks from our apartment. When we finally got home, I ran up to my room, as Jasper let the balloons float around the room, explaining that anywhere they settled would be good, and was immediately struck by a brilliant idea. The ole' mix CD. It says I didn't shell out any money, but I put some thought into it.

I sat at my laptop and ran through my collection of music, selecting some songs that already held meaning for Bella and I, like Jeff Buckley and Kings of Leon. I also chose some songs which reminded me of her whenever I listened to them like Dashboard Confessional, Hey Monday and even Bob Marley. I knew what she liked in general, and hoped she would listen to the lyrics more than the music. After I finished burning the CD, I called Rosalie to find out if she had any wrapping paper or even tape, so that I could wrap this thing.

"Hell no, and we're almost at the apartment so we're not stopping to get you some," she added unkindly. "There's a Walgreens or something around the corner, just go get it yourself Edward." I grabbed my wallet and left the apartment, heading down the street to get the final touches on my gift.

When I got back, the girls were already waiting with their overnight bags. I was very tempted to bring Bella's right up to my room, knowing full well she would probably be sleeping there, but I thought that was a little forward, so I tried my best to ignore the little black duffle bag by the door..

"Hey," she said when she saw me burst back into the apartment. I was slightly out of breath by this point, from basically sprinting the two blocks to the store and back.

"Hey. Can you give me like five minutes and I will be right back?" I asked as I hid my bag from her.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm gonna go watch Alice yell at Jasper for not ordering the pizza. I always love it when the vein in her head starts pulsing. It's like watching a horror movie and I am just anticipating something popping from her head to kill everyone in the room," she joked sarcastically. It was adorable. I headed upstairs and sat on the bed, doing my best to wrap the CD, but failing miserably. I opened my door and yelled for Alice's help.

"What the hell do you need Edward?" she huffed as she wandered into my room a few minutes later.

"I can't wrap. I made Bella a CD, and I can't wrap the fucking thing," I said disappointed with myself. Alice just laughed at me, sat down on my bed and wrapped the thing in like 5 seconds. She passed it back to me, looking absolutely perfect and smiled at me.

"I don't think it will take you a month. She'll find the gift really thoughtful, if you don't get up the courage to ask her out tonight, you should do it soon," she said confidently. I thanked her for her help and we headed back to the living room together. Rosalie and Emmett walked in a few minutes later.

They laid a fairly large assortment of alcohol on the counter and Emmett smiled at us, "Let the games begin."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So here is the Bella POV of the Birthday scene. If you enjoy, please review. I love reviews almost as much as dashboard confessional these days!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

I had had a good reason for not telling them that today was my birthday; I didn't want Alice to make some huge fuss out of it, like I knew she would. I hadn't actually thought of the reaction of anyone else, I just knew I didn't want any huge party or anything. I had almost completely forgotten about it until my Dad called and wished me a Happy Birthday. I thanked him for his gift, tickets to a Coldplay concert which I had mentioned to him months ago, and we were chatting easily when he suddenly brought up Mike.

"I saw Mrs. Newton at the grocery store yesterday and she mentioned that you and Mike broke up two weeks ago. Were you going to tell me Bella?" he asked sorrowfully.

"What do you want me to say Dad? I found out he cheated on me and I dumped him, that's all that happened."

"Well, Mrs. Newton told me Mike had to go to the emergency room because he had two broken ribs. She said some friend of yours beat him up, is this true?" he sounded upset that physical harm had come to Mike. Had Charlie forgotten that I just told him that Mike cheated on me?

"Ok yeah, that happened, but you shouldn't sympathize with him Dad. He slept with some other girl after we had a fight. It's his fault for lying to me and then getting caught. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't ask Edward to beat him up. We were looking for Mike and just happened to find him and Edward fighting. I don't feel bad about it," I added defiantly. I knew Charlie would be upset about this; perhaps it was the reason I hadn't mentioned it earlier. Mrs. Newton always was a major gossip, I'm sure the whole town of Forks has heard already that her poor little Mike was beaten up by a big bad college student.

"So, who's Edward?" he asked immediately. He certainly did have a knack for being blunt.

"He's a friend dad. He's one of my roommate Rosalie's best friends from back in Chicago. Before you even ask, no we are not dating."

"Okay Bella, I trust your judgment. I will also make sure Mrs. Newton knows what I think of her son next time I see her," he added in support. I begged him not too and to just let the situation go and he agreed reluctantly. He wished me Happy Birthday again before we finished our call. The moment I was back in the living room, Alice was already planning a big party. I managed to talk her into a small party at the boys place with just our group of friends and she relented.

When Edward and Jasper left, Alice and I talked casually about I wanted to do that night.

"Anything you want Bella, just name it. It's your birthday," she explained to me.

"I just want to drink and hang out with you guys, seriously. We hardly ever see each other during the week. You're always off with Japer and Rosalie is with Emmett, so I just want us to chill out and get drunk," I told her happily. A little while later she dragged me into my room and made me pack an overnight bag for the party.

"We're sleeping over Bella, might as well do it comfortably," she insisted as she ransacked my drawers for anything she deemed suitable sleep attire. "You're never gonna get Edward into bed with stuff like this," she said as she held up my favorite flannel pajamas.

"Alice, who the hell said I wanted to get Edward into bed?" I spat at her angrily as I moved back to my dresser and shoved my clothes back in.

"Oh calm down sweetie, I see the way you look at him. You like him, more than as a friend. Like I told you two weeks ago, Edward likes you. If I were you, I would definitely say yes if he asked you out," she admitted as she forced a long t-shirt into my duffle bag and insisted this would be my sleepwear. _I'll just steal a pair of Edwards boxers to wear underneath if it seems to short_, I told myself.

Alice and I arrived just before six to the boys' apartment and Jasper was there alone. There were a few random balloons advertising my birthday around the room. I just laughed at the effort Alice had clearly made him put forth and thanked him. He hadn't ordered the pizza yet and Alice was fuming mad at him. Just as I was about to sit down and relax on the couch, Edward wandered in, hiding something behind his back. I thought nothing of it and sat down to watch Alice verbally assault Jasper for forgetting the dinner. He sweet talked her quickly, and even convinced her to order it herself; it was quite a sight to see. A little while later, after Edward got help from Alice with something in his room, Emmett and Rosalie showed up and everyone was eager to start drinking.

"So Bella, I got you your own bottle of peppermint schnapps," said Emmett as he elbowed Edward in the ribs. Edward glared at him while Emmett passed me the bottle with the big red bow on it.

"Thanks Emmett, that was thoughtful of you, my first gift," I said eagerly as I opened the bottle and took a drink right from it.

"I thought your dad got you a gift Swan," asked Edward curiously. I had almost forgotten all about that.

"Oh shit, yeah. He got me two tickets to the Coldplay show in two weeks at Key Arena. I had mentioned it a few months ago and he must have ordered them a while ago cause they are pretty good seats, on the floor," I said happily. I quickly remembered that he had probably bought them under the assumption I would take Mike with me, and I didn't know who to take now. I'd worry about it later.

"Sweet ass gift," said Jasper as he handed me a beer. I wandered over to the couch and sat down comfortably, as Rose and Alice joined me. "So what are we gonna do tonight?" asked Jasper as he took a sip of his beer.

"I've got a few suggestions, but it depends on how quickly we want to get drunk," winked Emmett as he looked at me.

"Bring it on," I said haughtily to him. He gave me a big smirk and started listing virtually all the drinking games he had ever heard of. I liked the sound of one called FUBAR, where we basically pulled a card from a deck and had to drink based what the card depicted. Emmett said he would write down a cheat sheet of what each card stood for to help us along. Worked for me.

"We're not starting right now," said Alice as she stood up to answer the door. "We'll eat first and then get into the hardcore drinking." Jasper paid the delivery guy and everyone helped themselves to some pizza as we sat around in their living room. Emmett tossed "Pineapple Express" into the DVD player and we all watched the movie and chatted casually, just enjoying ourselves.

Edward was being unnaturally quiet. I nudged him gently as we sat on the couch and mouthed to him _"are you okay?"_ He gave me a big smile and went back to his slice of pepperoni pizza. I decided not to worry about him if he insisted he was okay, so I tried to focus on eating my dinner. The moment everyone was done, Emmett wandered over to the coffee table with a deck of cards, several bottles of booze, a bunch of shot glasses and his horribly indecipherable cheat sheet. I tried to read the page, but even sober, I couldn't do it.

"Don't worry Swan, I know the rules," whispered Edward as he noticed my concern with the chicken scratch Emmett had written down. "I'll help you out."

"Birthday girl goes first," said Alice as she bounced happily on the floor between Jasper's knees, as he sat on the couch behind her. I reached into the middle of the deck and pulled out the Three of Clubs. I showed it to Edward for his instruction.

"Take three drinks," he said casually as Emmett poured the shots and I swallowed them down quickly. Edward pulled out an Ace, which was only one drink. _Lucky bastard. _Rosalie pulled out a Queen, which meant that all the girls had to drink and then Jasper pulled out a Jack, so all the guys had to drink too. It started to get funnier when I was 7 drinks in and Emmett pulled out a Nine of Hearts.

"Ok, so I say a word and everyone must say a word that rhymes with it, until someone fucks up," he said, already slurring his words slightly. "The word is beer." We all took our turns saying words that rhymed like _ear, tear, fear, clear, cheer_ etc... It was Alice who eventually screwed up when she said _bar._ She had to take five drinks. It was almost 1am when the first of us crashed. Alice ran to the bathroom and was puking violently as I covered my ears in horror. Jasper looked at me, laughing, but still followed Alice to help her as best he could.

"Aww… are we calling it a night already?" asked Emmett as I stood up and intending to get my bag from beside the front door. I shouldn't have stayed seated for so long because the moment I stood, I almost fell forward onto my face. Edward grabbed my arm and helped me steady myself. "I guess we are, drunky," laughed Emmett as he took another drink.

"Not all of us can have a kryptonite liver, Emmett," I joked with him, as I finally reached my bag and was about to head to the bathroom. Too bad Alice was in there, still throwing up. "We drank for like 6 hours straight, at least I wasn't the first to give up the ghost," I added triumphantly as I pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

"I'm going to bed," I said as I climbed the stairs cautiously to Edward's room, trying to keep myself from falling back down them. I hadn't even asked permission to stay in his room; I just figured it was a natural assumption. A few minutes later he came up to join me, and I was already changed into my long t-shirt and a pair of his boxers that I had stolen from his dresser.

"I'll sleep downstairs, you can have the bed," he said as he gathered a few things from his dresser and was about to head out of the room.

"Fuck off Edward. You can stay here, it's your room," I slurred drunkenly. "It's not like we've never slept in the same bed, plus this one is so huge you won't even notice I'm there."

"Not bloody likely," he unsuccessfully tried to whisper quietly. I lay down on his bed while he disappeared for a few moments, I assumed to get changed. When he came back, he was in almost the exact same boxer shorts that I had stolen from him.

"Looks familiar," I said as I lifted up the bottom of my shirt slightly to show him his own shorts.

"Oh, so now you steal shit from me?" he joked, as he shut off the main light and turned on a smaller one beside his bed. He plugged his iPod into his docking station and turned on some music. It was so soothing, if he had been playing with my hair I would have almost immediately passed out. I laid there on top of the blankets for a while, enjoying the silence until Edward finally spoke.

"I made you something," he said sweetly as he sat up into a sitting position, with his legs crossed in front of him.

"You made me something? What is this second grade? Is it a paper heart with white paper lace around the edges?" I laughed as I sat up and copied the position he was sitting in.

"Screw off Swan. I don't have to give it to you, if you don't want it," he said seriously. I nodded my head and smiled, eager to see what he could have made me. He handed me a small package, covered in light blue wrapping paper and a little white bow. "If you like the wrapping job, you'll have to thank Alice. I almost ruined all the paper I bought and asked her to help me," he admitted in an embarrassed tone.

I tore into the paper with excitement and was pleased to see a CD that he had clearly made himself, labeled in black sharpie, _Happy Birthday Bella._ I leaned forward and gave him a big hug, which I don't think he was expecting.

"Thanks, this is awesome. No one has ever made me a mix CD before. I'm assuming it's not something stupid like you singing Happy Birthday right?" I laughed as I handed Edward the CD. "Can you put it in?" He looked a little tentative, but shut off the iPod and wandered over to his stereo to fulfill my request.

I hopped off the bed, almost falling again in the process, and climbed in under the sheets to get comfortable. When he came back to the bed, he looked at me with wide eyes, but climbed under with me. I turned over to my side, facing away from him and slid back a bit so that my back was practically against his chest. I wasn't sure what I was doing exactly, but I knew what my subconscious wanted Edward to do, and he did it. He didn't back away from me; instead he moved his body closer to mine so that we were spooning. As 'Stolen' by Dashboard Confessional came softly from the speakers, I felt him wrap his arm around my waist and use his free hand to start stroking my hair. Suddenly I felt him place a small kiss on the back of my neck; it was so sweet and yet so sensual.

"Bella," he said to me softly.

"Hmmm?"

"Happy Birthday"


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So today my two year old daughter said her first curse word, the f word. Ah, the joys of having a mommy with a trucker mouth. So, I'm trying to watch my swearing a bit more, so there may be less cursing. Then again, there may be more because I can no longer curse in my own home, it might all come across in my writing. Wish me luck!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

When I woke up the next morning, I almost thought that last night had been a dream. Until, I saw Bella sleeping beside me, my hand still draped around her waist, holding her close to me. I smiled confidently, remembering how much she had enjoyed the CD I had made for her. I just laid there beside her, watching her sleep for a little while. Bella looked so peaceful and beautiful; her long brown hair spread out all over my pillows, where I wished it would stay forever. I reached over and went to push some of her hair behind her ear, when I felt her stir beneath me, clearly waking up. I pulled my hand back, preparing myself to pretend that I too I just woken up.

"Good Morning," I said groggily as she rolled over onto her back and found me looking at her with a huge smile on my face.

"What time is it?" she asked curiously, looking around the room for my alarm clock.

"It's just after 9, you can go back to sleep. No one else is up," I said casually. I had been trying to think of ways to ask her out from the moment she fell asleep last night. I think I had only managed six hours sleep, but it was enough. I'd had worse.

"Can we leave?" she asked, surprising me.

"Umm... okay, where do you want to go?"

"Let's go back to my place. It'll be quiet there and we won't have to face the questions and all that shit from Alice and Rosalie. I'll make you breakfast," she offered sweetly. I simply nodded my head in agreement, desperate to be able to spend more time alone with her. "Toss on some clothes, we can shower and change at the dorm." I watched as she shoved all her clothes from last night into her duffle bag, apparently she was heading back to the dorms in her t-shirt and my boxers, not that I would be complaining. Anyone who saw her would clearly assume we were together, and I loved it.

After we quietly crept from my room and down the stairs, I left a vague note on the kitchen counter saying we had left and we headed down to the underground parking to get my car. We were at the dorms 10 minutes later, after catching every single red light between my apartment and hers. As we walked into her building, we got a few strange looks from some of the other students and I just smiled happily, remembering what she was wearing, and how we must look to everyone else.

"How about French Toast?" she offered as she sorted through the fridge looking for something to eat. I agreed heartily, actually excited to eat a meal that wasn't microwaved or ordered over the phone. I jumped up onto the counter and sat down, watching her make everything. She was still wearing the clothes from the night before, and I couldn't help but stare at her legs and her ass as she stood before the stove, making me breakfast. As the first set of toast cooked in the frying pan, she reached over and started rummaging through her duffle bag. I hadn't noticed immediately what she had gotten, but she went over to Rose's stereo, still in the living room where Jasper had left it, and slid in a CD. The moment the first notes poured from the speakers, I knew it was the CD I had made for her. She didn't say anything and went back to making breakfast.

"You're being quiet," I said trying to break the comfortable silence that surrounded us.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she reached into the drawer for some cutlery and handed it to me to set the table.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as I returned from the table. I took the butter and maple syrup that she had put on the counter and added it with the cutlery on the dining room table.

"Yeah, it's fine. I just got a lot on my mind," she added as she gestured for me to sit down. She came over to the table a few minutes later with two plates absolutely overflowing with French toast. "I'm a little hungry this morning; I won't be upset if you can't eat it all." Of course, I could eat it all because it was fucking fabulous. We ate in comfortable silence; just listening to the CD I had given her.

"That was excellent," I commented as I grabbed my plate and took it to the kitchen to start dishes. It was only fair that since she had cooked, I would clean.

"What are you doing?" she asked, clearly perturbed by what I was doing.

"Dishes?" I asked curiously. I didn't know this would offend her. "If you're mad about it, you can dry," I offered sarcastically. She just shook her head and took up a post beside me, to dry the dishes that I handed her. "What's going on Bella, you're acting all weird."

"I'm sorry, I just don't know how to act around you now," she confessed quietly.

"How about you just the act in the same sarcastic manner that made me like you the first place. Just be regular Bella," I suggested, as I handed her a plate. She nodded gingerly and dried it carefully before placing it into the cupboard. "Does being alone with me make you nervous?"

"Honestly, a little bit. After last night, things just feel a bit different to me." Bella lowered her head, as though she was troubled by her confession.

"Good different or bad different?" I quizzed, uncertain at what she was getting at.

"Definitely good different," she added quickly. She looked back up at me, watching me wash the dishes, and she was right, she was looking at me in a different way. I handed her the last dish and watched her carefully, trying to determine exactly what that look was. I wondered if it was the same look I had been giving her for the past few weeks. My eyes never left her as I watched her reach up, onto her tip toes, to put the final dish away. When she was back on her feet, I turned her around, facing me and decided to bite the bullet.

I leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, awaiting her response. When she reached for the back of my neck to pull me forward, I gripped her top lip between mine and began sucking gently, as my hand reached down and cupped her soft ass. The cotton of my boxer shorts on her ass wasn't nearly enough to cover her and I thought of all the people who had seen her in them earlier and was slightly jealous.

I pressed my lips hungrily to hers again and she opened her mouth eagerly, awaiting my tongue. I licked her bottom lip softly and plunged into her mouth, eager to taste her, _sweetness and maple syrup_, I thought to myself. She darted her tongue into my mouth gently, and I sighed quietly. I felt her hands run through my hair, and I lifted her up slowly, placing her on the countertop. She immediately wrapped her legs around me, pulling me closer to her , clearly feeling my excitement between us. I pulled my lips from hers and starting trailing soft kisses down her cheeks, to her neck and down her throat. I thought about how this was everything I had wanted since I met her, and it was even better than I anticipated. I was about to kiss her again on the lips, when she unexpectedly pulled her head back from me.

"Are you ever going to ask me on a date, Cullen?" she asked with a big smirk spread across her pouty, swollen pink lips. Oh how I wanted to kiss them again, so I leaned down again. She pulled back again, this time with no smile on her face.

"Bella Swan, will you go out with me tonight?" I asked, desperate to get back to kissing her. She nodded her head slowly and leaned in for a quick peck on the lips before jumping off the counter and heading towards her bedroom. "Where are you going? This was just getting good." I called after her.

"I need an ice cold shower," she said succinctly as she wandered into her bathroom, locking the door behind her.

"Want some company," I said gently as I knocked on the bathroom door.

"Maybe later," she said in a playful. _Fuck me._

**Bella POV**

Ever since I listened to the CD as I fell asleep last night, I knew something major was about to change between me and Edward. All the songs he had selected were so sweet and loving, some I already knew and some were brand new to me. He was clearly trying to improve my taste in music at the same time. I loved every song he chose though. When he finally kissed me in the kitchen today, it made perfect sense to me. I know I had insisted that I wasn't ready, but he was, and I didn't want him to go. I didn't want him to find someone else because I thought I wasn't ready. The moment he kissed me, I was ready.

When he finally asked me out, albeit with a little reminder from me, I couldn't wait to go out with him. To enjoy a dinner with him, to maybe take a walk together, to do anything really. I didn't care if he took me to a mime convention, it would still be fun with him. Then, when I said _"maybe later"_ when he asked if he could shower with me, I knew I was just teasing him. It wasn't like me to be so overtly sexual, but after last night, I couldn't help it. I came out of the bathroom a little while later, wrapped in an oversized bathrobe and found him lounging casually on my bed, listening to my iPod.

"Your turn," I said as I motioned towards the bathroom. He had brought with him a small bag with a change of clothes in it, but as I looked at him, he was shaking his head.

"I'm gonna shower at home later," he said surprisingly. "I have a date to get ready for." Before I knew it, a huge smile was plastered on my face. I turned around and started going through my clothes for something to wear today.

"I'll be back around six, if that's alright with you?" he asked as he sat up and put my iPod down on the bed. I nodded my head and held my bathrobe closer to my body. I was nervous again. He stood up and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, and sauntered out of the room. I had about seven hours to kill before our date, so I threw on some comfy clothes and sat down on my computer to get some homework done. Might as well catch up on things since I wouldn't have any time tonight, I told myself.

When Rosalie and Alice came home a few hours later, I was elbows deep in an analysis of Margaret Atwood. My door had been closed, music on and I thought they might ignore me until suddenly Alice burst into the room; her face alit in a huge smile.

"You're going on a date with Edward tonight?" she screeched in a voice that I figured only dogs could hear her. She had obviously seen Edward today. I nodded my head and continued to watch her reaction. It went from happiness to sheer terror. "What the hell are you going to wear Bella?"

"I'll figure something out Alice, it's not like we're going to prom. I'm sure I have something I can wear," I added as I shrugged my shoulders and tried to go back to my computer screen. I was working on a comparative analysis of the various works of Margaret Atwood before Alice grabbed the screen of my laptop and closed it. "I was working on that bitch," I said jokingly.

"Bella, this is no joke. We only have a few hours to make you stunning," she said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me into her room. "What time is he coming over?"

"Six."

"Shit, that only leaves us three hours. I'm going to pick out an outfit from my closet while Rosalie starts with your hair," she said as she forced me into the small chair in front of the makeup table she had brought with her from Pennsylvania. They went to work immediately, with Rosalie brushing my hair harshly to get all of the knots out of it. Alice grumbled incoherently from her closet complaining something about skin tone and fabric, but I tried my best to ignore her. At this stage, it was just easier to let them do what they want and apologize to Edward later if I ended up looking like a streetwalker.

Just over 3 hours later, I looked at myself in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised. Rosalie had done my hair in loose curls, similar to the look I wore to junior prom back in Phoenix. It was casual, yet cute. She had put on a little bit of makeup, some eye shadow and mascara, telling me that no matter what you do in your daily routine you should always have mascara on. Alice hadn't even done that bad of a job with my outfit. After she went online to check the weather and make sure it wasn't going to rain, she picked out a simple dress. It was a light blue color, with short cap sleeves (I wasn't sure what a cap sleeve was, but Alice kept spouting fashion terms so I tried to listen) that went to just above my knee. It wasn't nearly as indecent as I had expected. It had a bit of a plunging neckline, but it was manageable. I grabbed a light white sweater from my own closet, in case it got colder than Alice expected. I had just finished admiring my hair for the third time that night when there was a knock on the door. Alice practically pranced to the door to answer it but I shooed her away and answered it myself.

Edward stood there, wringing his hands together and looking pretty nervous, but very handsome. He just had on a simple black button down shirt and some dark jeans. I grabbed my purse off the counter and we headed down the dorm hallway quietly.

"What, no introduction to the family?" he asked jokingly.

"I think it's for the best to steer clear of Rosalie and Alice tonight. Did you really want an inquisition on your feelings?" I said sarcastically. He looked at me with a huge smile.

"Oh, I guess they didn't tell you that they already grilled me for two hours when I got back to the apartment earlier?" I opened my mouth wide, in complete shock. "Yeah, that was my reaction. The moment I told them we had a date; they were all over me, questioning everything, particularly Alice. That girl is a wee bit overprotective of you Swan," He reached down and took my hand in his as we walked off the elevator. I intertwined my fingers in his as he led me out to his car. We drove silently for a few moments before I decided to speak.

"So, where are we going anyways?"

"Just some restaurant that was recommended to me. It's downtown, near the Bainbridge ferry," he said, sounding proud that he had planned something. I just nodded my head and went back to focusing on the Kings of Leon coming from his stereo. When we finally arrived, he parked the Volvo in a community parking lot a block from the restaurant. The moment he closed the car door behind me, he quickly took my hand in his, interlocking our fingers. We walked casually to the little Italian restaurant and waited inside the door for the hostess to find us a seat. Edward had called ahead to reserve us a table, but it wasn't ready just yet.

"Well, that didn't take long, did it?" said a voice behind us that I immediately recognized. We both turned around slowly, and Edward gripped my hand a little bit tighter, obviously unnerved to see Mike standing in front of us.

"Jealous?" I asked as I stared at him, wishing he would just back out of the restaurant and go away forever.

"Hardly, he's getting my sloppy seconds," he muttered angrily. I didn't even have a chance to respond before Edward released my hand and was about to punch Mike in the face again. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards me, rubbing his forearm and trying to soothe his fury.

"Mike, Edward is not getting your sloppy seconds. He's already had a lot more than you already did," I spat angrily at him. Mike looked a little shocked, obviously assuming that we had slept together already. I didn't care what he thought had already happened between me and Edward, it wasn't any of his business. The hostess returned to the podium and informed us that our table was ready. Edward snaked his hand around my waist and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

"The best man has already won," Edward said as he winked at Mike with a smug look across his face. I reminded myself to ask him about that comment later and turned away from Mike to go enjoy my first date with Edward Cullen.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: The Bella POV of this chapter will be up later tonight (I'm PST timezone btw) Enjoy, and please review.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

Well that wasn't fucking awkward, I thought to myself as we finally got seated at our table. I almost wrapped my hands around Mike's throat to kill him when he mentioned Bella as sloppy seconds. She was no one's sloppy anything. Thankfully she pulled me back and calmed me down before any further harm came to anyone.

"Did I ever tell you Mike had to go to the emergency room after you kicked his ass?" remarked Bella indifferently. A huge smile broke across my face and she just laughed. "Yeah, my dad told me that he ran into Mike's mom back home and she said that Mike ended up with two broken ribs, it was pretty funny."

"Serves him right though, he should never have treated anyone like that, especially not you," I said assertively. We spent the rest of the meal on happier topics. She casually explained to me some analysis she was doing on a Canadian author named Margaret Atwood, who I had never heard of. I told her a bit about my music core classes and how in the first week I was assigned a project with this shallow red head named Cindi.

"Was that who I saw you with at the café a few weeks ago?" she remarked casually, but I could tell there was a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Yeah, that was her. We went to grab some coffees before heading back to the music room to finish our project. You didn't think there was something going on there, did you Swan?" I asked, now extremely curious.

"Maybe," she said glumly. She had been jealous, and it was very cute.

"Aww, how cute, you were jealous."

"Think whatever you want," she snipped at me as she reached for a breadstick and held it up to me in a threatening manner.

"Death by breadstick, there's a new one," I said, running my hands through my hair and laughing at her.

"Yeah, almost as good as death by parade float," she laughed. Our meals came soon after and when we were done, it was only 7:30. I hadn't really planned anything after this, but since I was just enjoying talking to her, I suggested a walk down by the bay. She nodded eagerly and wrapped her sweater around her shoulders before we walked out of the restaurant, both seemingly pleased with our date thus far.

We headed south down Union St, until we reached Waterfront Park. It was already dark, but luckily there were hundreds of lights along the walking paths throughout the park. We were able to see the lights of the ferries as they pulled into dock just a bit north of us. Bella seemed a little cold, even though she insisted she wasn't, so as we walked, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to me. I wished I had brought a jacket to keep her warm, but this was fine too, I smiled to myself.

"So, what was with that wink and comment you gave Mike earlier?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Oh, you mean the 'best man already won' comment?" she nodded her head and was silent, awaiting my response. "Remember on the first day when he caught us talking in your room and he pulled me out into the common area?"

"Yeah," she said, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Well, he basically told me to stay the hell away from you. I was feeling a bit confrontational towards him for treating you the way he did, so I told him I was essentially going to steal you away from him. I didn't actually mean it at the time, but I wanted to piss him off for treating you the way he did," I admitted. The expression on her face was one of disappointment.

"So, you told him you were going to steal his girlfriend just to piss him off?"

"Yeah. I'm being honest here Bella, cut me some slack," I said as I motioned for us to sit on a nearby bench. "I didn't know you that well, and I certainly didn't care for you the way I do now. I just wanted to rile him up and prove to him how big of an ass he was being. So my final comment to him that day was 'May the best man win,' implying that I was going to fight for you, which at the time, I had no intention of doing." _I was an asshole._

"And now?" she asked carefully. I noticed her playing with the hem of her dress nervously.

"Now what? Would I fight for you? Hell yeah!" I replied confidently as I took her hand into mine again. She offered no response; instead Bella laid her head down my shoulder and held my hand tightly in hers. We sat there for a little while, quietly staring out at the boats on the water. "Would you fight for me Bella?"

Once again, there was no answer. Not verbally at least. She lifted her head and looked up at me with her big brown eyes. She leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. It was so soft and sweet, and definitely implied that she would indeed fight for me. I was as happy as I could ever remember. I was about to lean in for another kiss when suddenly my cell phone started ringing. Jasper had the worst fucking timing, I thought as I looked at my phone and immediately recognized the number.

"What?" I snapped at him before I began listening to what he had to say. "Tell Alice to mind her own business." Jasper was calling on behalf of Alice to make sure things were going alright. I could throttle that girl. He then told me that the four of them were going to some club downtown and wanted to know if we wanted to join. I didn't want to be with anyone but Bella, so I declined, not even mentioning it to her.

"Ok dude, we're all sleeping at the dorm's tonight, if you want the place to yourself, hint hint," said Jasper in the least subtle way he possibly could.

"Thanks for the info, now leave us the alone," I joked to him as I hung up.

"Is everything okay?" she asked with a concerned expression on her face.

"Yeah, it's fine. The boys are sleeping over at the dorms tonight. Do you want to come back to my place?" I asked noticing she was shivering. Her teeth chattered lightly as she nodded her head in agreement. I grabbed her hand and we walked back to the Volvo quickly so that she didn't freeze to death. I turned the heat up to high the moment we got into the car and drove back to my place as fast as I could, eager to spend more time with her.

When we got back to the apartment, sure enough, it was empty. Too bad it wasn't clean. There were still pizza boxes and liquor bottles left over from the night before. I headed up to my room, intending to get a blanket to warm her up with, but she followed closely behind me.

"I was just going to get a blanket, Bella," I explained to her as she wandered into my room behind me.

"Thanks, but do you have something I can put on? This dress is cute, but really fricking itchy," she commented as she pulled at the hem uncomfortably. I reached into my dresser and pulled out a t-shirt, which I knew would be huge on her, and another pair of my boxers. I handed them to her and she started undressing immediately. "Turn around Cullen."

I did as instructed, but it took all my willpower not to look over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of her. When I finally got the okay to turn around, Bella looked stunning.

"Much better than the dress," I said as I admired the way my t-shirt hugged her body because she had tied it in a knot at the waist. My boxers looked just as sexy on her now as they did this morning when I was admiring her ass in her kitchen. I walked up to her with the thick blanket in my hand, wrapping it around her, in an effort to keep her warm. She stepped back from me and climbed up onto my bed, sitting cross legged with my blanket wrapped around her. _Oh, how I wished I was that blanket._

"So, what do you want to do?" she asked nervously, tightening the blanket around herself.

"We could watch a movie down in the living room?" I suggested, imagining cuddling up next to her on the couch.

"I don't want to leave the room," she smiled slyly at me.

"How about I put on some music and we just hang out then?" I offered. She nodded her head slowly and lay down on the bed, still wrapped in the blanket. "I'm going to get comfortable then," I said as I wandered towards my closet. I tossed on a plain grey t-shirt and peeled off my pants, leaving me in boxer shorts. It's not like it she hadn't seen them before. I flipped on my iPod, which was still in the docking station and turned on a playlist I had made of songs that reminded me of Bella.

I then turned off the main light, leaving my small beside lamp on and climbed onto the bed beside her, sitting with my legs directly in front of me and leaning back on my palms. I just watched her. She peeled the blanket from her, complaining of being too warm now. She sat up a little bit and gave me a weird look.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"I was about to ask you the same thing? Something on your mind, Cullen?" she asked as she twirled her fingers in her hair.

"You look beautiful," I admitted confidently, watching her mouth open slightly in surprise. The small curve of her smile was beautiful too and I repositioned myself so that I was lying right beside her. I tentatively reached my hand up and cupped her cheek, pulling her to me for a light kiss. Our lips touched lightly and I found her mouth already slightly open, eager for more. I rolled over faintly so that I was balanced above her, on my hands. I leaned down to her face and pushed my mouth onto hers with more passion than we had felt before. Bella began sucking my bottom lip in between hers, running her tongue along it gently. Her hands reached up into my hair and she was tugging gently, pulling my face closer to hers.

I reached my hand down, and slowly played with the bottom of my shirt that she was wearing, which caressed her chest softly. I undid the small knot she had tied at the bottom and stretched my hands up slowly, under the shirt to feel her skin on my hands. She didn't stop me, which was my initial reaction. Instead, she surprised me even more by reaching her hands down to the bottom of the shirt and pulling it up over her heard, throwing it somewhere in the room.

"Bella, "I whispered in shock, as I couldn't help but stare at her bare chest in front of me.

"I'm just going after what I want," she said fiercely as she pushed me onto my back and straddled my waist. She could clearly tell that I wanted her too, based on the fact that she was grinding her hips down on my now painful hard on. "What do you want Edward?" she said throatily.

"You," I said as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her down to me so that I could kiss her. "Always you."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Finally, the lemon. Enjoy!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

My brain seemed to stop functioning whenever I was around Edward, especially today. I dated Mike for six months and I never had sex with him. Not even close. Yet here I was after my first actual date with Edward, straddling him topless and practically begging him to ravish me with my eyes.

When I asked him what he wanted and he sensually whispered, "You, Always You," all my reservations went out the window. I practically forced my lips onto his as I ground my hips against his obvious excitement. His hands reached up and began caressing my breasts tenderly, as I leaned my head back and arched my back, moaning in pleasure from his gentle touch. Edward sat up slowly, leaving me in my position across his lap, and his hands wrapped around my back, gently running his fingers along my spine. His face bent forward and he took one of my nipples in to his mouth, licking softly in circles till it was fully erect. He then gave it a small kiss and repeated the motion on my other nipple.

"Oh my god, Edward," I gasped in pleasure, clearly spurring him on. He smoothly slid me from his lap and laid me onto the bed beneath him. Edward leaned back onto his knees in front of me, just staring at me, virtually salivating. He reached his fingers up to the waist band of the boxers I was wearing, shimmying them down my bare legs sensually.

"Bella Swan," he exclaimed with pure lust in his voice. "Haven't we been naughty," I was completely confused by his statement until I remembered that I had removed my panties before putting on his boxers, when I got changed earlier. I laid before him, completely vulnerable and blushing a deep shade of red. "I love it," said Edward as he kissed me gently between my breasts.

He started trailing kisses down my stomach to my hips and thighs eagerly. My legs spread instinctively the moment his sensual hands found my thighs. He placed his hands onto my feet and pushed my legs back slowly until they were bent at the knees and my soaking hot sex was spread willingly before him.

"So beautiful," he whispered quietly, thinking I couldn't hear him. I suddenly felt his fingers exploring my warmth and moaned loudly in pleasure and anticipation. I felt a finger encircling my clit softly while another finger plunged into my depths.

"You are soooo good," I screamed in ecstasy as Edward continued to deftly move his fingers in and around my slit, bringing me to the edge and back again, several times. Unexpectedly, I felt his warm breath wash over me as his tongue found my now frantically pulsing warmth. I screamed as I grabbed the sheets of the bed, moving my hips around and trying to keep his mouth and tongue on me indefinitely, as I came harder than I ever had before. When he finally lifted his head up to see my face, I was panting heavily, trying to calm myself down. I opened my eyes and saw that he was still dressed.

"Get those clothes off now," I ordered Edward as he just smiled at me. He stood from the bed and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, lifting it hastily over his head and tossed it away, into the darkness, followed by his boxer shorts. I sat in awe, staring at his beautiful chest. It looked like it was sculpted from the finest Italian marble. When he finally stood in front of me in all his glory, I was now the one salivating. I raised my hand and motioned with one finger for him to come back to me. He climbed back into bed beside me and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his bare skin. He leaned his head down into my neck and started kissing me fervently. I arched my back in pleasure and pulled my head up to kiss his cheek. "I want you now," I whispered into his ear.

Edward rolled away from me for a moment and retrieved something from his nightstand, a condom I assumed. A moment later he moved his body until he hovered above me, between my still spread legs, with one arm holding his weight and the other softly stroking the stray hairs near my temple. He gave me a weird look, as if to get approval from me. I knew his rock hard shaft was already situated at the entrance to my warmth, so I wrapped my legs around his waist tightly and pulled him into me.

We moaned in pleasure simultaneously as Edward leaned into my neck, kissing me passionately, before repeatedly driving in and out of me at an unhurried pace. His fingers danced over my skin sensually as I arched my back and moaned his name loudly. As his tempo increased, so did my need to cum again. My hands clung to his back and my fingers dug into his skin in desperation. I released my legs from around him and started to thrust my hips in sync with his movements.

"Edward," I groaned as I came in a wave of pleasure, clenching every muscle in my body and jerking in a small spasm. His hands gripped my hips tightly, as he grunted loudly into my neck and released inside of me, practically collapsing on my chest. I reached my hands up to Edwards' face and gently moved back the hairs that had fallen into his intense green eyes. I kissed his forehead tenderly as he rolled back to his side, wrapped his arms around me and softly kissed my neck. I sighed out of sheer happiness.

"Are you alright Swan?" he asked with obvious concern as he twisted my hair tenderly in his long fingers.

"Perfect," I replied as I fell asleep comfortably in his arms.

The next morning when I rolled over, Edward was not beside me. I quickly rummaged through the room to find the t-shirt and boxers he had lent me yesterday and went to find him once I was dressed. As I walked down the stairs, I was pleasantly surprised to see Edward standing in only his boxers making me breakfast. _How sweet_.

"Damn it, you woke up too early. There goes my surprise," he said slightly disappointed as he noticed me wander into the room.

"Oh, I'm surprised alright," I said as I walked behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, kissing him gently on his back. "I didn't know you could cook."

"I can't, but I am trying. It's only scrambled eggs, toast and coffee. How badly can I fuck that up?" I laughed at him and made my way over to the small kitchen table, anticipating my breakfast. We ate quickly, eager to get a start on the day. He mentioned how he was behind on a project for one of his history classes and would be heading to the library later to get everything finished. I still had a few hours of work to do in order to finish my analysis on Atwood, but all my notes were at my apartment.

"Why don't you come over to my suite after you've finished your project?" I suggested hopefully, running my fingers along the lip of my coffee cup nervously.

"I think that can be arranged," he said eagerly, as he took a sip from his coffee. "The library doesn't open for another hour though. Stay a bit longer and I'll drive you back… sound good?" I nodded my head and focused on finishing my breakfast. Once we done, I offered to clean the dishes and suggested he go take a hot shower.

"Are you implying that I smell, Swan?" Edward said in a mocking tone.

"Not at all, you just smell like scrambled eggs and sex. I'm sure you'll be irresistible to all the girls in the library," I laughed at him, while I filled the sink with water and started to work on the dishes. When I was finally done, I noticed he was still in the shower and decided to see if he had locked the door. He hadn't, I thought happily. I quietly walked into the bathroom and removed my clothes, shocking Edward as I stepped into the shower with him.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise," he said as pulled me towards him and into the stream of hot water.

"I'm all about saving water," I joked as I pulled the washcloth from his hand and started moving it gently across his chest. I knew I wasn't doing a good job of actually cleaning him, but that wasn't really the point of me joining him. I turned him around so that his back was to me and I started gently sliding the washcloth across his back slowly. I slid my free hand down his side and wrapped my fingers around his thick cock, and I heard him gasp in shock. His breathing seemed to slow immensely and I decided to take the opportunity to return the pleasure he had given me last night.

I grabbed his arm and turned him back around to face me, his eyes were fluttering lightly as my hand was still enveloped firmly around his hardness. I crouched down in front of him, moving myself back a bit and away from the spray of all the water. The moment my lips touched his tip, I heard a soft moan of _Bella_ escape his lips. I opened my mouth wide and eagerly took in all of him. I looked up at Edward and watched as he used the tiled wall of the bathtub to try and steady himself. He was breathing heavily, his eyes narrowing as I continued licking and sucking every inch of him.

My hands reached behind him and grabbed his ass, needing something to balance myself, as I plunged my mouth up and down on him, increasing my pace with every movement. I ran my teeth gently along the underside of his shaft and felt him quiver in my mouth. His hips pushed forward ever so slightly and he grabbed my head to hold it in its place, as he came hard, releasing his salty juice in my eager mouth. We both took a moment to compose ourselves, before I stood back up, my knees feeling a little weak. The wide eyed look on his face showed that he was still stunned by my visit in the shower with him.

I started to pretend like nothing major happened and reached down for the shampoo bottle on the shelf in front of us, when I felt him put his arm around my waist and pull me back into him, kissing my neck softly as the hot water from the shower poured between our bodies.

"You continue to astonish me Swan," he said as he took the shampoo from my hand and started to wash my hair gently. We finished our shower quickly and helped towel each other off, before heading back up to his bedroom to finally get dressed. He dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and a long sleeved grey t-shirt. I put the dress back on from last night, knowing full well that when I walked into the dorms, it would look like I was doing the walk of shame. I didn't care though. As Edward drove me home, we discussed getting together later that afternoon.

"I should be done by like four or so, want to get something for dinner?" he asked casually as he reached for my hand and linked it with his.

"Yeah, that works for me. If I'm not done by then I'll just make you sit there and watch me," I joked.

"I would probably do that anyways," he said as we pulled into the parking lot of the dorm. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and waited, watching me, until I was inside the building safely. I stood in the hallway and watched the Volvo drive away, and started to count the seconds until I saw him again. When I finally unlocked the door to the apartment, it was silent. I headed into my bedroom and got changed quickly into some comfy sweats and put my birthday CD into the player. I pulled open my laptop, intending to finish my project, but all I could think of was Edward; his hands on my skin, his lips on neck, and the sweet tone of his voice when he moaned my name. _I was screwed._


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I hope to have another chapter posted today. I've been suffering a wee bit of writer's block.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

Once I pulled my car into the parking lot closest to the library, I practically sprinted inside to get my work done. I had a hard time focusing on my report, but did my best. Sure, my grade might not be so great, but I wouldn't fail. Once I had gotten over this complete obsession with Bella and we had fallen into a routine like dating couples sometimes do, I assumed, my grades would pick back up. At least I hoped my theory was right.

A few hours later I found myself at Bella's door, waiting impatiently for her to answer it. After a few tries, no one came. I quickly called her cell phone, wondering where the hell she had gotten to.

"Where are you Swan?" I said in frustration

"In my room, where the hell are you?" she was clearly confused.

"I'm sitting outside your door waiting for someone to let me in," I said with a laugh. When she finally opened the door a moment later, looking adorable as per usual, she explained that her music was too loud to hear the door.

"Whatever" I mocked as I headed into her bedroom and jumped up onto her bed. I was more than eager to continue what we started last night, but it looked like she was still busy. "Are you done your analysis?"

"Almost. I'm on the conclusion. I shouldn't be more than half an hour." I just nodded at her and laid down on her bed, listening to the birthday CD that she already had playing, trying not to smile too much that she had enjoyed my gift. I was about to make a comment about it when suddenly my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I looked at the screen and saw that it was my mom. I rolled my eyes and answered the phone.

"Hi Mom," I said casually. She talked a mile a minute, asking as many questions as she could because she was just relieved she got me on the phone. "No, I'm not at the apartment. I'm at a friend's place on campus," I said as I winked at Bella. She looked at me and mouthed the word _friend_ and then laughed before turning back to her report.

"Yes, Esme, I made friends other than Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie," I groaned before getting reamed out for calling her by her given name. "Sorry Mom," I apologized as Bella chuckled at me while trying to focus on her homework. "Sorry, I'm so distracted mom, my friend Bella keeps laughing at our conversation." That should shut Bella up for a second. Unfortunately, it just gave my mom more questions, particularly about Bella.

"Can we talk about this later?" I asked, hoping to avoid an inquisition while Bella was in the room. "Okay, thanks mom." I said before I hung up the phone and stared at Bella. "Thanks for that. Now my mom is calling again tomorrow night. I could handle her calls once a week, but not all the fucking time," I mumbled.

"How is this my fault?" laughed Bella as she closed down her computer, clearly having finished her report.

"I dunno, it just is," I whispered as she climbed up onto the bed beside me and kissed me lightly on the neck, clearly trying to distract me. _It was fucking working_ "Have you heard from the girls?" I asked, breaking the intense tension between us.

"No, not at word. Anything from the guys?" she asked as she ran her hands under my shirt and across my chest. As her hands moved deftly up my chest, the hem of my shirt moved up, revealing my chest and then she leaned down and started peppering my abdomen with small tender kisses. My hands found her dark luscious hair and were running my fingers through the strands gently, when we suddenly heard a loud noise in the common room and were startled out of our lust induced haze.

Bella opened her door tentatively, hoping that there was no one there so that we could get back to exploring every square inch of each other's bodies, when suddenly Alice popped her head out her room and shrieked excitedly for Bella. "Time to make an appearance Cullen," she said to me as she headed out of the room. God how I hoped Jasper was there so I had some company.

"It's about time you came home Bella," said Alice. She was about to continue on with her questioning until she saw me follow Bella out of the room. "Oh, so the first date isn't over yet?"

"No, we're just on number two. Are you keeping track? Should we mark it down on the calendar on the fridge," I snipped sarcastically as I threw myself down on the couch. Thankfully Jasper strolled in from the bathroom two seconds later.

"What's his problem?" asked Alice as she reached for a beer in the fridge and handed it to Jasper.

"He has no problems, right Edward?" winked Bella as she came over to the couch and sat beside me. I nodded my head in agreement before I scooped her up gently and slid her onto my lap instead. It was easier to play with her hair this way.

"So, I take it your date went alright?" asked Jasper as he raised an eyebrow at me in curiosity. I looked at Bella quickly and shot Jasper a big smile.

"Yeah, it started out a bit rough when we ran into Mike at the restaurant, but overall I would say the night was a success," said Bella as she too shot Alice a big smile. Alice grabbed Bella from my lap and dragged her into her bedroom, obviously to have some private conversation. I just laughed and went to help myself to a beer, while Jasper stared at me.

"You have it so bad Edward, seriously. You've never been like this with any chick before," Jasper commented when I returned to the couch.

"Yeah, I like her, more than I thought I would ya know. When we saw Mike, I had the overwhelming urge to beat the shit out of him again, but she calmed me down and we went and had a great dinner and then a nice walk down at Waterfront Park," I said, trying to sound casual about the entire evening, but knowing that I was falling hard, and fast.

"So… what happened after that?" said Jasper as he raised his eyebrow trying to decipher the expression on my face to see if we had sex. I just nodded my head. "I knew it, and you guys were going for round two when Alice and I showed up, I bet. Bella looked disappointed to see us here." Jasper just laughed as I shook my head, surprised at how perceptive he was.

We sat talking amiably for about 10 minutes before the girls finally came out of Alice's room. Bella's hair was up and she was fidgeting with it a little bit. "Alice decided to style my hair as we talked," she said as I kept staring at her hair, and she back down on my lap.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" asked Alice as she joined Jasper on the couch and took a sip of his beer. Bella and I both shrugged our shoulders, because we hadn't made any definite plans yet. We both had class at 9 in the morning, so we knew it wasn't going to be a late night. "How about we order Chinese and watch some stupid ass movie like Harold and Kumar?" she suggested. I was letting Bella choose tonight, so when she nodded her head in agreement, I was a little disappointed. So much for more alone time with her, I huffed to myself, as I reached up and stroked Bella's hair softly.

Emmett and Rosalie wandered in just before the food arrived, luckily for all of us, Alice had ordered extra. Surprisingly it looked like they had been doing laundry, and gasp, dare I say studying at our apartment earlier today. Emmett punched me on the shoulder, harder than he probably intended, and gave me a big smirk that said he knew we had had sex. I just ignored him, knowing full well that when we finally drove home later, they would both be giving me the third degree. We all sat around in the living room and watched the movie, which we had all seen like 10 times before, and enjoying our dinner. The relaxed atmosphere was having its affect on Bella because she kept leaning her head against my shoulder as if she was going to fall asleep.

She finally did pass out just before the movie ended and I carried her off into her bedroom and put her gently on the bed, pulling the covers up to keep her warm. I really _really_ wanted to just lay down beside with her and hold her close, but I left a quick note, kissed her forehead and drove back to my apartment with the guys.

The next few weeks, we settled into a routine that worked well for both of us. I usually stayed over at her suite on Tuesday nights because we both had late classes that morning. On Saturdays she would stay over and do our laundry together on Sunday mornings while working on homework. I loved Sundays the most. It was casual and easy going. She would cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, whatever we wanted. We'd sit in my bedroom listening to music and finishing up homework. She would sometimes come over to me and lay gentle kisses on my forehead or neck if it looked like I was having trouble with something. She calmed me, but excited me at the same time.

It was almost Halloween when I noticed we had been dating for over a month. I had never officially called her my girlfriend, but we both knew that was exactly what it was. I even mentioned her to my mom more frequently and she was genuinely pleased that I had found someone. During one of our Sunday conversations, she even invited Bella to Chicago for Thanksgiving with our family. Sure it would only be Esme, Carlisle and I, but my mom was a pretty good cook, and I was looking forward to the break. When we were sitting in my room, each of us reading, I decided to mention it to her.

"So, I talked to my mom this morning," I remarked casually. She just perked up her eye brow curiously.

"Yeah, she booked my flight home for Thanksgiving…" I started nervously.

"Cool," she said as she went back to her book, clearly not taking any sort of hint.

"She booked one for you too," I said hopefully, staring at her, carefully gauging her reaction. It was one of disappointment.

"Charlie's never gonna let me go," she said dejectedly. Yeah, she was right. He probably wouldn't. He hadn't met me or my parents and here I was trying to get his 18 year old daughter to fly to Chicago with me for a few days. He definitely would say no. We sat silently, still going through our textbooks when I got an idea.

"I have an idea. How about you ask if you can go, and offer to come up a week early to celebrate Thanksgiving with him. I can come with you if you want. This way, he gets his thanksgiving and you get to come with me to Chicago?" Her face perked up at the idea. "It's worth a shot right? Plus he must know how much you want to visit Chicago." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, dialing in excitement.

"Hi Dad," she said enthusiasm running through every note of her voice. "So Dad, Edward's mother invited me to their place in Chicago for Thanksgiving." They argued somewhat for a little bit until finally he seemed to relent because one of the most beautiful smiles covered her face. "Yes, Dad. I will bring Edward up to meet you." I nodded in agreement. I was beyond pleased that she would be joining us. _Think of all the things I could show her in Chicago._

Before she was even off the phone, I called my mom to let her know that Charlie had agreed to let Bella come to Chicago. She was so excited to finally meet her, or any girl that was ever in my life for that matter. I never brought anyone home that I dated, and Esme mentioned this to me constantly. At least now she would stop giving me grief about it for a while. The four days away from school would be a blessing for us, even if Esme would insist that Bella slept in a guest room. Now I just had 3 weeks to fret about meeting her dad. _Dad's never liked me._


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for their most recent reviews. I had an epiphany earlier today, which cleared up the mini writers block I was having.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

The next three weeks went by in a haze of classes, planning and Edward. It seemed like every time we weren't in class, doing homework or having sex, then Edward was planning what we would do in Chicago. I think he was just trying to take his mind off of meeting Charlie this weekend.

"We'll definitely go to Grant Park," said Edward as he lay comfortably in my bed and looked at the poster on my wall. I love that poster. Without it, Edward and I might not have started talking like we did, and he may not be lying on my bed right now. I was sitting at my desk doing my best to ignore him while I worked on a report that was due on Thursday. When I finally determined I had done enough for the night, Edward was looking really pensive.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" I asked as I slid into bed beside him and began running my hand along his chest.

"Just thinking about how this weekend is gonna suck," he replied and I immediately frowned. "I didn't mean it like that," he corrected himself. "It's just that you head home on Friday afternoon, and I don't get there until like mid morning on Saturday and then I have to drive home on the same day. I'll just miss you a lot."

"Can you believe we've been dating for over 2 months?" I asked casually. Edward nodded his head and smiled. I knew this was a major feat for him because Rosalie had told me so. She was always telling me how Edward never had a serious girlfriend back in Chicago and never seemed as happy as he is now. I wondered if his parents would notice, and if they did, would they say anything?

The next morning we took a little longer than usual to say our customary goodbyes. He almost refused to let me out of bed because he knew the next time we would see each other would be under the watchful eye of my overbearing father. When I had finally convinced him to go, I handed him the directions to my father's house in Forks that I had printed off Mapquest, and he headed off to class on the verge of being late.

I took a Greyhound bus back to Forks on Friday after my last class. I had put my birthday CD onto my iPod and was listening to it intently as I did some reading for my women's lit class. It was just after five when the bus pulled into the depot and I saw Charlie standing in his uniform waiting for me. I fought back laughter as some of the other passengers wondered if there was a criminal on the bus.

"Bells, you look good. School seems to agree with you," said Charlie as he tossed my bag into the backseat of the cruiser. I just nodded my head in agreement and listed to all the recent happenings in town, like who was caught speeding and who was busted for having a grow-op on their farm. He told me how he switched shifts with one of the other officers at the station so that he was off the entire weekend, but working the next. Things were a bit awkward when we got home. Charlie ordered some pizza and we ate in relative silence until he cleared his throat and jumped right into the conversation he really wanted to have.

"So, tell me a bit about Edward?" he asked as though he was interrogating a murder suspect.

"He's a freshman too. He's from Chicago which is where his dad works as a doctor and his mom is an interior designer," Charlie nodded his head, signaling me to continue. "He's a music major and plays piano, umm... he went with me to the Coldplay concert you got me tickets for and drives a silver Volvo… need me to continue?"

"How did you meet him?"

"He was helping my roommate, and his old friend from home, Rosalie move into our apartment," well that was the partial truth.

"Does he treat you good Bella?" he asked wistfully. Charlie finally looked resigned to the fact that I was actually growing up.

"He treats me like gold Dad. I really think you are going to like him." _I missed him already_.

"We'll see," he huffed quietly as he finished his pizza. After dinner, Charlie went to watch a Seahawks game he had on his DVR, while I scoured the kitchen for all the ingredients I would need to make dinner. My grocery list was massive because Charlie rarely kept his kitchen stocked. Luckily, he had picked up a 15lb turkey like I had asked and it was already thawed in the fridge.

I glanced at the clock and it was only 6:30, so I borrowed the cruiser and $100 from Charlie's wallet, with permission of course, and headed to the store to get all my groceries. When I finally got home, I spent the rest of my night baking an apple pie, a favorite of both Charlie and Edward.

The next morning, I woke up early and immediately headed downstairs to prepare the turkey, stuffing and all the vegetables. Depending on how hungry my men were, Charlie may actually have leftovers for a few days. Edward arrived shortly after 11 that morning, but my hands were busy stuffing the turkey, so my dad answered the door.

"Good Morning Mr. Swan," he said politely as Charlie moved aside and motioned for him to come in. He looked really good, a little tired, but good. He was wearing the same black button down shirt and jeans that he wore on our first date.

"Nice to finally meet you Edward," said Charlie sounding a little unnatural. "Bella has told me a lot about you." Edward threw me a quick glance and I just shook my head in disagreement.

"Why don't you guys go watch the UW game for a bit and I'll be in the living room when I am done," I said trying to relive some of the tension in the room. I finished preparing everything, and decided to wait until 1 before I started the oven and put the turkey in. After I washed my hands, I headed into the living room and found them happily discussing fishing, one of Charlie's favorite subjects. Edward wasn't a fan, but he had told me that this grandfather had taken him a few times when he was younger, so the conversation didn't seem strained.

"I'm going to steal Edward from you for a few minutes to show him the house," I lied as I grabbed his hand and led him from the couch. I took him upstairs to show him my room first. The moment we were alone, he pressed me against the wall and began kissing me passionately, his hands roaming all over my body. I was mortified because I was still wearing my pajamas. When I finally pushed back from him a few minutes later, he looked exasperated.

"You never mentioned your dad was the police chief?" he commented in frustration.

"Does it matter?"

"No, but I thought something was wrong when I got here and saw the police cruiser outside," he laughed. "I saw his gun in the holster in the kitchen. Do you think he'd shoot me if he knew the impure thoughts I was having about his daughter right now?" he asked as he moved closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my earlobe.

"No, but I do think he'd shoot you if he knew we've had sex… and a lot of it," I joked. "I need a nice cold shower now. Go hang with Charlie and I'll be down in like 10 minutes." Edward got saddened again and went to walk down the stairs, back to the boring chatter with Charlie.

**Edward POV**

Meeting Bella's father hadn't been nearly as terrifying as I had imagined. He did seem pretty decent, even if he did have a gun in the kitchen and a bunch of friends who could help him cover up a murder. I joined him the living room, explaining that Bella wanted to clean up and Charlie jumped at the opportunity to give me the third degree.

"So Edward, have you ever been arrested?" he asked as he cocked an eye brow. What was this, America's Most Wanted?

"No sir," I replied honestly. "I've never even had as much as a speeding ticket." He just nodded his head and moved onto the next question, as though he had looked up something on Google on how to interrogate your daughter's boyfriend.

"Tell me a bit about your parents. Bella said your father is a doctor?"

"Yeah, my dad Carlisle is a doctor at Northwestern Memorial and my mom Esme is an interior designer. They've been married 22 years this June. I have no brothers or sisters."

He seemed pleased but the more I talked, the more boring I sounded. I started to wonder what the hell Bella even saw in me. Then he hit me with a question I had been dreading since I had suggested this visit to Forks.

"So, you were the friend that beat up Mike right?" he looked nervous as he asked it, but probably not as nervous as I was to answer. I just nodded. "Thanks." Well, that was unexpected. Did he just thank me for beating up his daughters' ex-boyfriend? "I never liked that kid."

We both laughed comfortably and in walked Bella, looking both beautiful and surprised. "Are you guys actually getting along?"

"Chief Swan and I discovered something else we have in common other than caring about you," I chuckled. Bella just shrugged her shoulders out of confusion and headed to the kitchen to put the turkey in the oven. It was just after 4 when Bella served dinner, we could have eaten earlier, but she refused any help. For the last hour, I sat on the kitchen counter just watching her cook, and more often than not, staring at her ass.

The dinner itself was fabulous; rating close to a ten on the Edward Cullen scale of excellence. It may have even been better than Esmes', not that I would tell either of them that. We had easy conversations with Charlie about my classes and how I got interested in piano (my grandmother) Bella looked very pleased with herself the entire night, a little cocky even.

It was just before 7 when we finally had room for Bella's delicious apple pie and coffee. I was helping wash the dishes afterwards, when Charlie strolled into the kitchen and patted me on the back.

"It's getting late Edward," he said sounding very fatherly. So now was when he kicked me out and I suffered in silence as I drove back to Seattle alone. "Why don't you sleep on the couch tonight and then you and Bella can drive back to Seattle together tomorrow?" He offered. Bella and I immediately looked at each other, our mouths opened wide in shock. I nodded my head eagerly.

'Thanks Chief Swan."

"Call me Charlie," he said as he walked back into the living room, to the dull glow of his flat screen TV. Bella threw her arms around me tightly and kissed my cheek.

"He really likes you," she said confidently. "He never even let Mike call him Charlie." I just laughed, recalling our earlier conversation about Newton. Once the dishes were finished, Bella ran upstairs and grabbed me some blankets from the linen closet and we decided to watch a movie in the living room. Charlie excused himself just after nine to go to bed. The moment we heard his bedroom door click closed, Bella leaned in and began kissing and sucking my neck eagerly.

"Slow your roll Swan," I said as I pulled her back from me gently. "I'm in Charlie's good graces; I don't want to screw it up by having him walk in and find me having sex with his daughter on his couch."

"Fine, I'll just have to take care of myself later tonight," she threatened with a smirk across her face. She knew I wouldn't sleep at all with that thought in my head, so I relented somewhat. I grabbed one of the blankets and pulled it over her, covering her from the midriff down. She moved her body till she was positioned between my legs with her back to me.

"Lift up your ass," I instructed quietly. As she did so, I slid her jeans and panties from her body, hiding them under the blanket by our feet. I then pushed her knees back towards her body gently and slid my hand across the top of her chest and down between her thighs. Before my hand even reached her wet slit, I could sense her warmth. I slid one finger up and down her slit as she bent her head back into my shoulder. I kissed her forehead as my thumb found her clit and started rubbing it gently. I pressed my index finger inside of her and began pushing it in and out of her body slowly, as I watched her bite her bottom lip to keep from moaning too loudly. Her finger gripped my thighs tightly as I continued my motions. I pinched her clit between two fingers and felt her legs shake slightly. She was very close to the edge.

I leaned my head down and nibbled her ear lobe as I pushed a second finger into her depths. Her breathing increased as my fingers curled inside her, she whispered my name in defeat and came hard on my hand as her body shook in pleasure. She quickly rolled over to face me, with the blanket still covering the lower half of her body, which was still naked. She grabbed my belt buckle and started to undo it, when I grabbed her hands and pulled them away.

"Hell no", I said firmly. "There's a loaded gun less than 20 feet from us. I'm not taking any chances."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Two chapters in one night, so much for the writer's block huh? Anyways, the story will get a lot more dramatic in the next chapter, which should be posted tomorrow, and just to calm the fear of some of my readers, there will be no cheating. **

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

The next morning Bella made pancakes for us, as I had a quick shower. Unfortunately I didn't have a change of clothes, so I had to put the same ones back on, and the dress shirt was starting to get uncomfortable. I was lucky though that Bella was a kleptomaniac when it came to my boxer shorts, and had brought a pair with her. I felt pretty refreshed when I joined them for breakfast. Our plan was to leave shortly after we ate, so while Bella was putting the dishes in the dishwasher, I brought her bag out to the car. I was surprised to find Charlie following me to the Volvo.

"You make Bella very happy," he confessed to me with a look of sadness across his face. "Dare I say, she might even love you? Please take good care of my girl, Edward," he said sincerely as Bella walked out to join us.

"Always," I said to Charlie with a wide smile. Bella said goodbye and gave him a big bear hug as she promised to call him from Chicago next weekend. She sat silently in my passenger seat and watched as Charlie stood in the driveway, watching us drive out of sight. Then she wrapped her hand in mine gently before we were even off her street.

"I never should have worried so much about this weekend," I admitted.

"He likes you. He even told me this morning that you were a huge improvement over Mike," she announced proudly.

"Bella, plankton is a huge improvement over Mike Newton,' I joked. We finalized our plans for Wednesday, with Bella agreeing to come over on Tuesday night to finish her laundry and stay overnight. We had no classes on Wednesday and our flight out was at 11am. I dropped Bella off at her dorm and promised to call her later that night to check in on her.

Late Tuesday afternoon, I picked Bella up at her suite. Rosalie and Emmett had already left for the airport since their flight left that night and Jasper was heading to Pennsylvania with Alice tomorrow morning. The moment we got back to my apartment, Bella started a load of laundry while I ordered dinner for us. I noticed she was fidgeting nervously all night and was always trying to keep herself busy. When she climbed into bed just before midnight, she seemed tense.

"Are you okay Bella?" I asked with concern.

"I'm nervous," she admitted as I reached down for her hand and gently started rubbing her palm. "And it's not about meeting your parents, because if they are anything like you, I'm sure I will love them immediately."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I don't know, I just feel like something major is coming. I'm probably just being paranoid right?" she sighed into my chest.

"Of course you are Swan. Just relax and think positive, tomorrow you will be in Chicago. Your favorite city that you've never been to," I said reassuringly as I stroked her hair gently until she fell asleep in my arms.

Alice and Jasper met us at the apartment at 9 the next morning. Their flight left half an hour after ours, so we all decided to just drive the Volvo to Sea-Tac Airport and spilt the cost for the four days of parking. As I had expected, Alice brought way too much luggage for a four day trip, so I made her put some on her lap in the backseat of the car. We were all flying United, so we all checked in and went through security together. Once we had determined our gates, Alice and Bella gave each other excited little hugs and promised to call each other several times.

"It's only four day's ladies. I doubt you will get the shakes or something from not talking to each other," Jasper joked. I grabbed Bella's hand and we walked together down the corridor to find our gate, after saying our final goodbyes to our friends. The flight was super boring. Bella and I shared the headphones on my iPod, listening to anything which Bella chose. Luckily, her taste in music was improving. I noticed her leg bouncing nervously during the flight and kept putting my hand on her thigh, rubbing gently, as I tried to calm her.

"They are going to love you Bella. Esme is just beyond excited that I am actually bringing a girl home that I don't think she cares if you had two heads," I laughed.

"Thanks. So I could be a freak of nature and you would still want me?" she asked in frustration.

"Well no, I wouldn't want you, but Esme would still like you," I joked as I kissed her cheek. We landed at O'Hare a mere twenty minutes later and the moment we were allowed to use our phones, I called Carlisle and let him know we were in town. He was on his way and figured he would be at the pickup zone shortly after we got our luggage, and sure enough, he was. That man had impeccable timing.

"Bella, this is my dad," I said as Carlisle hopped out of his Mercedes to help us put our luggage in the trunk. He extended his hand out to her.

"Nice to meet you Bella." The drive from the airport was a little painful. Carlisle was quizzing me on anything and everything to do with my classes as Bella sat in the back seat in silence. My parents lived in a big brownstone down near Lake Michigan; it was basically half way between the hospital Carlisle worked at and Grant Park, which was handy considering what I had planned for Bella. When we pulled up to the house, Esme was waiting on the front step patiently, as though someone had called her to let her know we were there, but no one had.

Carlisle grabbed our bags from the trunk, as I led Bella up the steps to meet my mom. She gave me a huge hug and then looked at Bella with bright eyes, and hugged her just as hard as she had hugged me. "It's wonderful to meet you Bella."

**Bella POV**

I was a ball of excitement when we pulled up in front of Edward's house. It was a beautiful old brick brownstone and I imagined that it was even better on the inside thanks to Esmes' career. I was a little surprised when she gave me a hug at the front door, but welcomed it, since I hadn't hugged my mom or even heard from her in years. We didn't have much of a relationship and I was somewhat envious of what Edward had with his mom.

"Edward, why don't you run the bags up to the bedrooms," said Esme pleasantly. "Bella is going to stay in the guest bedroom obviously," she added. I just nodded my head in agreement and followed as Esme grabbed my hand and led me towards the kitchen. It was dinner time in Chicago and the Cullen's had waited until we arrived to eat, which was great, because I was starving.

Edward was back down to the kitchen in a flash and was already picking at the food his mother had made. "Ooh, chicken parmesan. My favorite," he said as he kissed his mom on the cheek. They had such a sweet relationship, not strained at all, he was very lucky. Esme ushered us to the dining room table, which was rather ostentatious in my opinion, but I just kept my mouth shut and smiled happily. I was still a bit nervous, but Esme seemed to have a very calming effect on me.

"So Bella, Edward tells us you are an English major," said Carlisle as he handed me the salad bowl.

"Yeah, I haven't decided if I would rather be a writer or an English teacher, but I figure as my semesters move on I will be able to figure it out more," I admitted shyly as I felt Edward's hand on my knee, rubbing gently in reassurance.

"And Edward also said you are from Washington?" asked Esme. I nodded my head, dreading giving my entire family story since I hadn't really shared it completely with Edward yet.

"My dad lives in a small town on the northeast side of Washington called Forks. He's the police chief there. It's about a three hour drive from Seattle. I've lived there with him for a little while before heading off to college." There, that was pretty vague, but specific enough that there shouldn't be any more questions.

"And what about your mom?" she asked.

"I don't have much of a relationship with her anymore. Last I knew she was in Phoenix or Jacksonville or something like that," I admitted glumly. Esme gave me an apologetic look and went back to eating her dinner.

After we had finished dinner and Esme refused our assistance in cleaning up, Edward decided to give me the grand tour of the house. The main floor held the living room, dining room, kitchen and a small powder room. The second floor was where Carlisle and Esme's bedroom was. It was so huge; it took up almost the entire floor. The only other thing there was Carlisle's office. The third floor had a guest bedroom, Edwards's room and another bathroom which was joined between the two rooms. I chuckled lightly under my breath as he explained this, knowing full well I would be sleeping in his room tonight.

When we finally walked into Edward's room, I was a little surprised. It was pretty bare. Sure, there was a big king sized bed in the middle, with a desk and a dresser off to the side, but he didn't have much on his walls. The mirror on his dresser held a few photos of his parents and his friends, but it was practically empty. On the far wall was a big wall unit which housed a flat screen TV, stereo and hundreds of CD's and records. I guessed this was all the decoration Edward needed. I wandered over to the stereo to see what he was listening to last… Death Cab for Cutie… nice choice.

"What was in there anyways?" he asked as he peered over my shoulder, while snaking his arm around my waist.

"Celine Dion," I laughed.

"Nice try. Not even my parents own that shit," he said as he turned the CD on and heard the music pour from the speakers. "It's late so I'm getting ready for bed; I suggest you do the same. We have a big day tomorrow," he said with a smirk on his face.

I went to the spare bedroom, through the large bathroom, and found my bag lying on yet another oversized bed. I rifled through it until I found a pair of Edwards boxers and a loose tank top, my new favorite sleepwear. When I got into the bathroom to brush my teeth, he was already in there doing the same. He looked so good shirtless and in just his boxers that I was practically drooling at the sight of him. Suddenly there was a knock at the door to the spare bedroom I was supposed to be staying in. Edward closed the bathroom door behind me as I went to answer it.

It was Esme and she looked concerned. I moved aside to let her into the room and she sat down on the bed, patting it lightly to signal for me to join her.

"Is everything okay Bella?" she asked sweetly. "I didn't mean to bring up a touchy subject like your mother at dinner tonight, I just wasn't aware."

"It's okay," I said quietly. "I hadn't told Edward yet, so there was no way you could know."

"If you ever need someone to listen to honey, I'm here okay?" Esme was quickly moving up my list of most favorite people in the world. No wonder Edward talked to her so often. I thanked her and she was almost to the door before she stopped. "Oh, I might turn a blind eye if you sleep in Edwards' room, but if I hear anything even remotely suspicious, there might be hell to pay," she winked at me. When she finally left, I hung a some of my clothes up in the closet and went back to Edwards's room quietly.

"Did I just hear my mom basically tell you that you could sleep in my room, but no sex?" he asked incredulously.

"I think so," I nodded as I hopped onto his bed. He had already pulled the blankets back and was waiting patiently for me. Once I was curled up next to him, my head buried into his bare chest, he pulled them back across us and wrapped his arm around me. "How good is her hearing?"


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: So here's the latest chapter, there's a little humor, a little romance and a little drama at the end. The next chapter will be very dramatic, so be forewarned. Love the reviews, keep em coming!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

I yawned and stretched, looking at the clock. It was 10am already. I had slept in, and so had Edward. I was surprised to hear no noise whatsoever in the house. It was very quiet, one of the perks of living on the third floor I guessed. I rolled out of bed and tossed on the bathrobe Esme had left for me in the guest room, before wandering downstairs to offer my assistance. She was bent over the oven, lifting a pumpkin pie out and replacing it with one of the biggest turkey's I had ever seen.

"Good Morning Bella, I trust you slept well," she said casually, as she went back to chopping bread for her stuffing.

"Yes, thank you," I nodded. "Do you need any help?"

"No thank you honey. I really prefer to do it all myself. Edward tells me you're a lot like me in that regard," I just blushed and nodded my head again. "Are you sure you don't want to discuss what happened last night?" I shook my head, signaling that this was something I wasn't up to discussing and she pointed me in the direction of some bagels and cream cheese that Carlisle had picked up that morning and I made two, bringing one up to Edward. When I stepped back into his room, he was finally waking up.

"It's about fricking time Cullen," I jokingly chastised. "I've already been to Wrigley Field and the Museum of Contemporary Art without you." He rolled over onto his side and eagerly eyed the bagel I handed him.

"Good Morning to you too, and you haven't been up that long. I felt you leave the bed like 10 minutes ago,' he smirked as he took a big bite of his bagel.

"So, what's the plan for this morning? Your mom has refused my help and we can't have sex in her house, so what are we going to do?" I asked curiously.

"We're going to the Art Institute of Chicago this morning and then after dinner, we'll go to Grant Park for a little bit, if that is alright with you? We can do other touristy things tomorrow." I agreed and finished my bagel quickly. We were both showered, dressed and out the door before 11am. I know I was excited, and I think Edward just wanted to get home as soon as possible to enjoy some of his mom's delicious smelling turkey. We pulled into the Art Institute, almost 10 minutes later, having driven Esme's car which she graciously lent us, after Edward begged for 5 minutes.

"So why the Art Institute anyways?" I asked as Edward paid our admittance fees and we wandered into the gallery.

"Well Ms. Swan, I know you like photography and they have an excellent collection here, but also one of my favorite paintings is here, and I wanted to show it to you." He smiled as he grabbed my hand and led me through the gallery, often explaining interesting facts about some of the artists or the works.

"Since when did you care so much about art?" I commented curiously, as we wandered into the Impressionist exhibit.

"Esme used to bring me here a lot when I was little. It was like our thing. She loves art, and she wanted me to love it too. My main problem is that I just can't bring myself to love one painting or artist, so I just try to admire them all," he admitted as he ran his free hand haphazardly through his hair while shrugging his shoulders.

"Very cute," I admitted as I laid my head on his shoulder. We stopped in front of a gigantic painting that looked very blurry. "Is there a picture in there?"

"Yeah, you need to step back a bit Bella. This is actually one of the most famous paintings in the gallery by a French impressionist named Georges Seurat," he said as he grabbed my arm and moved me back from the canvas so I could see it better. He was right. When we moved back, you could clearly see a scene of people sitting on a small hill on the edge of a river. "It's called _A Sunday on la Grande Jatte_."

We stood for a few moments admiring the work before wandering down the hallway and checking out some more impression paintings. It was almost three when Esme called Edwards' cell phone suggesting we get home for dinner. When we finally got back to the Cullen's house, Esme was putting the finishing touches on everything and was eager to talk to me about the gallery.

"It was very cool," I admitted timidly. "I didn't know too much about art, just what I liked, but Edward showed me a bunch of really interesting works. I think next time I come back we'll have to see the rest of the gallery." Esme's face broke out in the widest smile I have ever seen. I think she was excited at the prospect of me coming back with Edward again.

We ate dinner shortly after 4 and enjoyed a very relaxed conversation. Edwards's parents now knew better than to ask me about my mom, so we discussed other aspects of my childhood and upbringing. I told them about the close relationship I had with my grandma Marie until she passed away three years ago. They wanted to know more about Edward and me, specifically how we met, but I thought I would leave that to Edward. I didn't want to get him in trouble because I wasn't sure if he had mentioned beating up Mike.

"You won't like the story," he admitted to his dad after he initially asked. Carlisle nodded carefully and Edward started to explain. "Well, Jasper and I were helping Rosalie move into her apartment. Actually, Jasper and I moved her stuff in while Rosalie disappeared with Emmett somewhere in my car. We were stuck at her dorm and Jasper was getting along with her roommate Alice, so Bella and I started talking."

"That's pretty harmless," said Esme in surprise, expecting something a lot worse. I just smiled and let him finish his story.

"It was harmless, but Bella had a boyfriend at the time and he caught us talking and jumped to the wrong conclusion. The next day I overheard him telling a friend that he had cheated on Bella and I beat the crap out of him in front of a record store." Esme and Carlisle both looked at me for confirmation and I nodded my head gently.

"How come no cops were involved?" Carlisle asked angrily, as he stabbed a piece of potato with his fork.

"I paid the clerk at the record store $100 to ignore it," Edward remarked calmly. Carlisle was pissed. "If it makes you feel any better, Bella's dad thanked me for breaking his ribs and said he never liked the guy anyways," he added. This time I was the shocked one.

"You never told me that," I admitted.

"Yeah, he told me that on Saturday afternoon when you were showering. He was giving me a serious interrogation and that topic came up. Sorry Swan," he said as he gave me a huge smirk. So that was what him and Charlie had in common, they both hated Mike. When we were all finished eating, Edward confirmed with his parents if it was okay if we took a walk down to Grant Park before it got too dark.

"That's fine," said Esme as I tried to help her clear the tables, but she wouldn't have any assistance. "It's okay Bella. I actually have someone coming over in half an hour to do all the cleaning," she admitted nonchalantly. Edward ran upstairs and grabbed our coats and we stepped out into the cold November air, with him seeming more excited than I think I had ever seen him.

**Edward POV**

Ever since that first day that I saw the picture of Grant Park on her wall, I had thought of bringing Bella here with me. It was only a couple of blocks from my parents' house, down East Madison, until we got to the park. It was only 5pm and the sun was starting to go down, but it wasn't pitch black yet. I wasn't planning on us staying too long at the park, just long enough for me to do what I had planned.

"This place is amazing," she commented as she gripped my hand harder in hers. We strolled hand in hand through the park and I led her to one of the cooler features, Buckingham Fountain. It was a gigantic three tiered circular fountain in the middle of the park, but at night it was all lit up and looked pretty awesome. Jasper and I had gotten stoned in front of the fountain a few times last year, when we had absolutely nothing else to do.

"Did you come here a lot?" she asked curiously. "I bet you brought all the girls here to romance them."

"Hardly," I responded in all seriousness. "Jasper came here with me a few times to get high, but that was it." She laughed heartily, and reached up to run her hands through her hair. It was a bit windy out tonight, but it's Chicago, its windy all the time. I leaned down and gently kissed her on the forehead, trying to get up the nerve to talk to her about something more serious. It wasn't happening.

"You're being very quiet tonight Cullen," said Bella as we found a free bench in front of the fountain and sat down. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her as close to me as possible.

"Yeah, I guess I am," I admitted shyly.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she rubbed my thigh with her hand. I just nodded and continued staring at the fountain.

"You're beautiful," I finally said a few minutes later. She turned her head to look at me and gave me a big bright smile. It was just as beautiful. "I love you." There I finally said it. Telling her that was even more nerve-wracking then meeting her father last week. Suddenly I realized, she hadn't said anything. There was no response. I panicked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable Edward," she admitted as she snuggled closer to me. "I love you too." A wave of relief washed over me as she confessed to being in love with me too.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, still worrying that I had done something wrong by confessing my love for her.

"No, everything is absolutely perfect," said Bella as she leaned her face up and gave me a tender kiss on the lips. "Too bad your mom has super power hearing," she joked. We continued sitting on the bench and watching the fountain, just relaxing and reveling in the emotions and words we had just shared with each other.

"So, when did you realize you loved me? " I asked excitedly.

"I guess I knew there was something special between us the first time you kissed me. But I knew I loved you last weekend, at my dad's house," said Bella bashfully. I just smiled and nodded.

"I knew I loved you last weekend too. I've been trying to find the right time to tell you since last Sunday. I almost blurted it out to your dad actually," I said carelessly. She looked at me a little shocked, and I just leaned forward and kissed her again.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Well, Esme mentioned something about taking you shopping with her first thing in the morning. I figured we would go to the Sears Tower, maybe head down to Navy Pier. I was actually hoping that you had paid attention the last few weeks when I talked about Chicago and you might have some ideas of stuff to do."

"As long as I am with you, anything we do will be perfect," she admitted contentedly. It was finally starting to get darker and a lot colder, so Bella and I decided to head home and try to enjoy some privacy. As we started to walk towards the exit of Grant Park, Bella's cell phone started to ring. _Fucking Alice._

"Hello, yes this is Bella Swan," she answered slowly. Clearly this wasn't Alice. Bella immediately stopped moving and released my hand from hers. _Something was wrong._ Suddenly she practically collapsed on the ground and began crying uncontrollably. I bent down beside her to comfort her, and reached for her phone.

"This is Edward Cullen, Bella's boyfriend; can you please tell me what is going on?"I asked angrily.

"Yes, Mr. Cullen. This is Officer Morris with the Forks Police Department. Chief Swan responded to a domestic violence call early this morning and was shot in the line of duty. He was immediately airlifted to Port Angeles hospital but passed away just after one this afternoon. Bella was listed as his next of kin. I am so sorry to have to call like this on thanksgiving." I was absolutely grief stricken and I had only met Charlie once. Bella's head was now resting on my shoulder as she continued to sob hysterically. I gave the officer my cell phone number and instructed him to call me in regards to anything else, explaining that we would be back in Forks as soon as possible.

I quickly called Rosalie and forced her to come to my parents place as soon as she could. She hesitated, but the moment I told her Bella needed her, she said she would be over within 20 minutes. I picked up Bella's exhausted body in my arms, cradling her as close to me as possible and started to walk home. We got some very weird looks as we crossed the park and walked back down Madison, but I didn't care. My love was fucking devastated and there was absolutely no one I could beat up to make this better for her.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry to everyone who liked my version of Charlie. Sometimes you need to do what you can to move the story along. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I've already got more reviews than my first story, and that had like 25,000 more visitors, so keep reviewing. For those who are interested, I've been listening to "Swallowed in the Sea" by Coldplay and "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie, while writing these most recent chapters.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

I carried her in silence back through the streets of Chicago to my parent's house. When we finally got to the steps up to the house, the door flew open and there stood Esme, Rosalie and Emmett. I struggled to get her up the stairs without falling since it had taken virtually all my energy to carry her emotionally broken body the six blocks back to the house. She was still sobbing when we got into the hallway.

"What's going on Edward?" my mom asked riddled with concern.

"Emmett, would you mind carrying Bella upstairs and putting her on my bed? I'll be up in a minute," I asked quietly. Bella gripped my neck tighter, not wanting to let me go. "It'll just be a minute, I promise." She finally relented and Emmett slipped his arms under mine and carried her upstairs easily.

"I told her I love her," I said, as I bowed my head down in grief.

"And that was her reaction?" said Rosalie dumbfounded.

"No, her response was just what I dreamt it would be. Then two minutes later, as we were heading back here, she got a call on her cell phone. Charlie was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call." I sunk down onto the first step of the stairs and dropped my face to my hands. I had no idea what to do at this point. Rosalie ran up the stairs to console Bella the moment Emmett came back down. Esme took him and Carlisle aside and explained what happened. She was the picture of calm and understanding, but also one of action.

"Carlisle can you call the airport and get us all flights back to Seattle for first thing in the morning?" she sighed. "Edward, are you okay?" she asked as she sat down beside me and started stroking my hair to comfort me.

"No," I said honestly to her. She grabbed my hand and guided me to the couch. We hugged for what seemed like an eternity. I was lost, confused and heartbroken. "I told her I loved her and now every time she thinks of that, she will think of her father dying, how fucked up is that?"

"It won't be important to Bella when you said it. It will be important that you meant it," said Esme gently as she patted my arm.

"Alice and Jasper are heading back to Seattle tomorrow too," said Emmett as he hung up his cell phone and offered me a gentle pat on the shoulder. This was the most emotion I had ever seen from Emmett in the almost six years I had known him. I silently thanked them both and slowly climbed the stairs to go see Bella. I could hear her sobs from the stairwell, but could hear that they weren't as loud as before.

She was lying down on my bed, her head buried in my pillow and Rosalie was rubbing her back, doing anything she could to console her. I shook my head slowly and Rosalie took the hint and went downstairs to join the rest of the family.

"Bella," I said quietly as I climbed onto the bed and wrapped my arms around her. I repositioned myself so that I was sitting cross legged on my bed, and I pulled her up onto my lap. Her hands wrapped immediately around my neck and she put her head onto my shoulder, holding me close to her. Her sobbing slowled as I rubbed her back gently. And we stayed this way for what seemed like hours. In silence. I consoled her, I kissed her forehead, and I tried to reassure her that everything would be okay. I knew deep down in my heart that Esme would make it okay. Just like she made it okay when my turtle, Fluffy, had died. Sure I was 8, but she made everything right.

The next morning, after getting a total of three hours sleep, Rosalie came back over, with her bags all packed. She helped Bella shower and get dressed, while I discussed the situation with my parents over a very strong cup of coffee. They insisted on coming back to Forks with us for a bit, at least until after Charlie's funeral.

"Between you and Bella, neither of you will be able to handle this. Let your father and I do this for you," said Esme as she handed me my second cup of coffee. I just nodded my head, not eager to start a fight with her. I had a feeling Bella was going to relent about the whole situation as well because she didn't have the energy in her to do anything. There was a funeral to plan, arrangements to be made, people to notify. What the fuck did I know about any of this?

The flight back to Seattle was painful. Bella and I sat together, with Emmett and Rosalie across the aisle. Her body was so tired and weak; we had to practically carry her through the airport to get home. I tried to get her to listen to some music, read a book, even sleep, but she just stared out the window, hardly even acknowledging me. While we waited for our luggage at Sea-Tac Airport, Carlisle took me aside to let me know that he had called the Forks PD last night to confirm everything. He told me that Charlie's body was being brought back from Port Angeles that afternoon and would be at a local funeral home. He had also booked rooms at one of the small local hotels for him and Esme, Jasper and Alice and Emmett and Rosalie. He assumed that Bella would want me staying with her at Charlie's but I wasn't certain that was the case.

As we went to leave the airport, Bella and I with Carlisle and Esme were headed directly to Forks. I gave Emmett my keys and he and Rosalie were heading for the dorms to pick up Alice and Jasper and some clothes for Bella. The car ride was just as painful as the flight. Bella was either staring out the window or falling asleep against the headrest. Her body hardly touched mine, and when it did, it seemed involuntary.

I gave Carlisle general directions to Charlie's and when I messed up, Bella would correct me. I had only been there once, so I was bound to screw up. When we pulled in the driveway in front of the house, Bella's eyes glassed over with tears again.

"You don't need to go in sweetheart," said Esme kindly as she reached into the back seat to grab Bella's hand. "You can stay with us at the hotel and we can come back later." Bella shook her head and unlocked the car to get out. We all followed. Nothing had changed at the house. Charlie's old truck was still in its spot at the front of the driveway, with his boat parked alongside it. The front porch light was on, and there were a couple of newspapers by the doorway, but it looked just as relaxing as it had a week ago.

Esme took Bella's hand and led her up to the house. When Bella fumbled with her keys and dropped them, I gently picked them up and opened the door for her. I thought she was going to collapse again when we finally stepped in the kitchen, but Esme held her up by the waist. They walked into the living room as Carlisle went right to the phone and called Officer Morris to let him know that we had arrived. I fixed a pot of tea while Esme and Bella sat on the couch together, comfortably, as though they had known each other for years and not days. I was glad that if I couldn't do something for Bella, at least my mother could.

It was only half an hour later when a police cruiser pulled up in front of the house and a scruffy and burly man stepped out of the car. Bella looked out the living room eagerly; half expecting Charlie to get out of the car and this to be a dream, but that didn't happen. I joined Carlisle on the porch as he introduced himself.

"I'm Carlisle Cullen, and this is my son Edward. I believe you spoke to both of us on the phone yesterday," said my dad with a hint of regret to his voice.

"Yes, I'm Officer Morris. I'm so sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," he said gravely as he looked down at the ground nervously. "Is Bella around? I'd really like to express my condolences to her."

"She's in the living room with my wife," said Carlisle. "First though, I'd like to be responsible for any arrangements and what not to assist Bella. She's in no condition to be worrying about any of the small trivial details. Is this alright?" Officer Morris nodded and explained that he would need to confirm this with Bella, as she was the beneficiary of Charlie's entire estate. I think that Carlisle figured this part out a while ago.

"Thanks dad," I said as I followed him and Officer Morris into the living room to see Bella. The interaction between Bella and the officer was clearly forced on her part. She did, however, agree to let my parents take care of anything relating to the funeral and whatnot. After Officer Morris left, Esme and Carlisle went to go get some dinner for us, anticipating the arrival of Rose, Emmett, Alice and Jasper at any time.

"Bella," I whispered to her sweetly, as she lay curled up beside me on the living room couch. "I love you." She said nothing. I bent my head forward carefully to see if she was awake, and she was. "Can you talk to me?"

"It's my fault," she sobbed into my chest after several more minutes of silence.

"That's ridiculous Bella. It's not your fault that some guy was beating the crap out of his wife and then shot at the cops who responded to the 911 call," I said matter of factly.

"No, it's my fault I blew off thanksgiving with Charlie so that I could go to Chicago with you. If I hadn't gone, Charlie would never have had to work this weekend," she shrieked bluntly. I just looked at her completely awestruck. I had no idea how she could even consider blaming herself for this. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine for asking and giving her the suggestion of switching weekends for thanksgiving. She ran up to her room and I tried to follow her, but she had locked it. I was screwing up massively, and I had no idea what to do.

I sat in the kitchen for almost an hour trying to figure things out, when everyone else arrived. Esme and Carlisle had pulled into the driveway with Chinese Food, the same moment as the carload of my friends. Alice and Rosalie immediately went upstairs to try and coax Bella to join us.

"While we were out, we headed to the police station," said Esme. "The funeral is set for Sunday. Your dad and I are going to stay till at least Tuesday; I might even stay longer if Bella wants me too. Your dad is going to call the lawyer to see if he can review Charlie's will on Monday while we are still here, so that we can help Bella in any way we can." I just nodded my head and walked out onto the porch solemnly. Carlisle walked out behind me, and stood just like me, with his hands gripping the railing, staring at the slightly snow covered lawn in front of him.

"I feel like I am intruding," I admitted to him glumly. "Bella told me that she blames herself. That if she had never came to Chicago, then her dad would still be alive. I feel completely responsible." Carlisle wrapped one arm around my shoulder for support.

"All you can do for her is be there for her. If she asks for privacy, give it to her. If she asks for comfort, give it to her," he advised. "Esme's dad died while we were dating." I turned to him a bit shocked. "Although we had been together about a year longer than you and Bella had when it happened. She tried to cut me out of her life and became completely withdrawn, but I never gave up on her. Now look at us. Twenty two years of marriage, a somewhat decent kid," he joked. "Have patience and just be there for her." I smiled slightly and we walked back into the kitchen.

That night, everyone retreated back to the hotel rooms Carlisle had booked and I slept on the couch. I didn't want to be too far from Bella, even though I didn't think she would come from her room. Esme showed up early the next morning and began making breakfast, cleaning and just doing general mom things. Alice and Rosalie had to coax Bella to take a shower, which was not a good sign. I dreaded her shutting down completely and pushing me from her life.

Just before lunch time, there was a knock on the door which I answered. Standing in front of me was a slightly older, practically mirror image version of Bella. I knew instantly who she was.

"Can I help you?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm looking for Bella Swan," she said apologetically, as I heard footsteps come from behind me.

"Mom," shrieked Bella as though she was in pain. I looked back and Bella stood frozen. I went to grab her hand for support and she pushed me away, grabbed the front door and slammed it in her mother's face before running upstairs, with Esme close on her heels.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. Just as an FYI: not only am I not a fan of cheating, I am a huge fan of happy endings (take that Romeo * Juliet). I was listening to "Till Kingdom Come" by Coldplay when writing this chapter. Love that song! **

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

As if things weren't bad enough, my mother shows up at the door the day before Charlie's funeral looking for me. It had been five years and I never even got a postcard from her. She basically just dropped me off at Charlie's door when I was 13 and disappeared. It took every ounce of my energy to slam the door in her face, but I did it, and then I ran up the stairs crying inconsolably with Esme right behind me.

Edwards's parents had gone out of their way to help. Everyone had, but Esme had treated me as though she understood every single thing I was going through. She never pushed, she never pried. She held me and cried right along with me when Renee had showed up. She was not a part of my life anymore and was hardly a part of Charlie's, even when they were married.

"Edward and Carlisle are talking to her," she whispered softly. "They are going to figure out why she's here and we can move forward after that, okay?" I nodded my head into her shoulder and my crying slowed.

"I don't think she ever loved me," I admitted despondently to Esme as she rubbed my back. "I always seemed like a bargaining chip for her. Something she could use in an effort to get more out my dad, more money, and more gifts for me that I never received, just more. I remember one summer when I visited Charlie for two weeks and he asked how I liked the birthday gifts he sent me. I never got them."

"I'm so sorry Bella," she said as I laid my head on her shoulder again.

"When I she left me here with Charlie, life actually seemed normal. I could be a 13 year old girl. I had friends over and didn't worry about what my mom would be doing, cause she wasn't here. Everyone in town trusted Charlie. No one ever trusted my mom. I don't know what to do about her," I admitted pathetically. It was shortly after this that Carlisle came up to my room, without Edward.

"She said she just wanted to make sure that Bella was okay," said Carlisle sounding suspicious. "Renee apparently got the initial call because Charlie never updated his records once Bella turned 18. She and Edward shared some harsh words and he went for a drive to cool off." Carlisle seemed to have an innate ability to act calm in the most stressful situations, which was probably one of the reasons he was a doctor.

"Is she going to the funeral tomorrow?" I finally managed to ask anxiously.

"Yes, but she also wants to talk to you still. She suggested coming back over later for coffee."

"I don't want to see her unless Edward is here with me," I admitted as Esme smiled softly, clearly pleased that I felt the need to rely on him again.

"Do you want me to call him and ask him to come back home?" she offered politely.

"No, I'm not ready to see her yet, maybe after dinner," I suggested gloomily. Esme, Alice and Rosalie spent the afternoon in my room with me, as though they were on some sort of suicide watch. They never left me alone. Alice spent time going through my closet trying to find something she deemed decent for me to wear to the funeral. Rosalie read a book silently and Esme just offered me non-verbal support in any way she felt appropriate.

Edward arrived shortly before dinner, the drive clearly agreed with him because he looked almost relaxed when I saw him at the dinner table that night. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett had all drove into Port Angeles together to get some things for the reception I was apparently hosting after the funeral tomorrow.

"Renee wants to come over to talk later," I told Edward nervously. He looked at me a little bit shocked. "Will you stay with me?" He just nodded and a sympathetic smile crossed his face.

"Whatever you need Bella," he said as he shot, what appeared to be a thankful glance, at his dad.

Esme and Carlisle were still at the house when Renee arrived at 7. They exchanged general pleasantries and Renee thanked them for taking such good care of me recently.

"It's been our pleasure. Bella's one of the family," said Esme as she gripped my shoulder firmly. They left shortly afterwards, agreeing to come back early the next morning to help prepare for the funeral. Renee and I sat in the living room awaiting Edward who was pouring us each a cup of coffee. She tried to talk to me, but I insisted we wait until Edward joined us. He would be able to keep me calm. When he finally came back into the living room, he handed us each a cup of coffee and sat down beside me on the couch, sliding his arm around my shoulder protectively.

"So I am assuming you guys are dating," said Renee. I grabbed his hand and grasped it tightly. I just nodded and looked at him for help.

"Yeah," he said compassionately. "For over 2 months now. We go to school together." Renee appeared genuinely happy for me, but I was still very suspicious.

"Why are you here?" I asked sounding somewhat cruel. Edward started to rub my shoulder to try and calm me down a bit. "I don't hear from you for five years and suddenly you reappear. Excuse me if I think your intention to come here wasn't solely to offer your condolences."

"Contrary to your belief, I came here to support you Bella," she snarled at me while running her finger along the edge of her coffee cup. It was one of the little habits I had gained from her. I now hated that habit.

"Where were you all the other times I needed support? Esmes' been more of a mom to me in the past 3 days than you were my entire life," I spat angrily as tears streamed down my cheeks. Edward reached up and wiped them away gently with the back of his hand.

"Bella, as much as you might hate me right now, with Charlie gone, I'm now your legal guardian and I am here to look out for your best interests." She was about to say something else when Edward suddenly cleared his throat and interrupted her.

"Technically Renee, since Bella turned 18 in September, which you would have known if you were involved in her life, she no longer needs a legal guardian. Bella can vote, get married, buy a house… she can do anything she wants to, without your permission." I squeezed his hand to thank him for his support. I looked at Renee and she looked a bit crestfallen. She had come for something bigger and it clearly wasn't me.

"You can leave now Renee," I spat at her in disappointment. She shook her head, as though to imply that she wasn't here for anything but me, however, she just couldn't seem to find the right words to say to me.

"Who will help you take care of everything Bella? You don't want to get taken advantage of, do you?" pleaded Renee in defeat.

"The Cullens. They are my family now," I said confidently. Edward and I stood from the couch together, signaling it was time for her to get out of Charlie's house. He wrapped his arm around my waist again and I felt at ease, for the first time in almost four days. "You can go to the funeral if you must, but don't come back here afterwards and don't call me, ever. I've survived five years without you; I can survive the rest of my life without you too." Renee said nothing further. She looked dissatisfied, but our situation was all because of her, so I couldn't feel bad for her.

"I'm very proud of you," whispered Edward as he locked the front door behind her, and kissed my forehead. The drama of the day had left me completely exhausted and even though it was only 8, I needed to sleep.

"Edward, I'm going to go to bed now," I told him as I stood on the bottom step of the stairs. He nodded his head in agreement. He had been great at giving me some privacy, but right now, I couldn't handle being alone. "Can you please sleep with me tonight?"

**Edward POV**

I was beyond shocked when Bella asked me to sleep with her tonight. I didn't want to rush anything, knowing full well she was still grieving for Charlie. I didn't want to take advantage of her at all, but I wanted to be there to hold her.

"Are you sure?" I questioned softly, as I went to join her at the end of the stairs.

"Yeah, I can't handle being alone tonight. Please?" Her eyes were practically begging me, and when she grabbed my hand in hers, all my willpower was gone. I followed her up the stairs to her bedroom. Once she was changed into some simple pajamas, I undressed so I was in my boxers and slid into bed beside her. I held her all night as close to me as possible. She had buried her head into my chest and would sometimes start to sob lightly, but I would quickly start stroking her hair, and she would immediately fall back to sleep. I barely slept that night, but it didn't bother me in the least. I might look like shit at the funeral, but Bella would be able to function, and that was the most important thing to me right now.

The next morning when she woke, she nuzzled into my chest and squeezed me closer to her. She didn't want to get out of bed, and neither did I. Suddenly I could hear Esme and Carlisle chatting downstairs in the kitchen.

"Why don't you go get in the shower and I'll be back up before you are out with a fresh cup of coffee?" I suggested as she stretched her arms lightly over her head. She simply nodded and slid out of the bed quietly before heading into the bathroom. I walked downstairs and found Esme making coffee for us, as Carlisle was going through some of Charlie's important documents that Bella had allowed him to review before meeting with the attorney on Monday.

"Morning," I said casually as I reached for some mugs from the cupboard. I had gotten a little too used to everything in the house over the past few days. Carlisle didn't look up from the papers he was reviewing and Esme started in with the questioning.

"How did things go with Renee last night?" she asked curiously. Bella had told me before we went to sleep that she had confided in my mom about her childhood with Renee, so Esme now had a bit more insight into Bella than I did, but I think it had actually helped Bella, so I didn't mind.

"Oh, they went great… if by great I mean that Renee proved that she wasn't really here to help Bella, she was more here to help herself to whatever Bella is entitled to." Esme just nodded her head as I continued. "She basically told Bella that she was still her legal guardian, but I corrected her and let her know that since Bella was 18, she was an adult and Renee had no power over her."

"I had a feeling that would happen," said Carlisle, clearly interested in the conversation now. "Do you think she will be there today?"

"Not likely. Bella told her she could go, but never to contact her again after that," I remarked as I took a sip from the coffee Esme handed me. "When Renee told her that she would need help with Charlie's affairs, Bella said we would help her. It was really very sweet. She thinks of you as more of a mom than she ever thought of Renee," I said to Esme, and she blushed sweetly. I gave her a quick hug and headed up to check on Bella. She was finally out of the shower and was inspecting the outfit Alice had picked out for her.

"I'm gonna look like a nun," she said trying to make a joke.

"It's a funeral Bella, you're not supposed to look like the prom queen," I said seriously. "Esmes got me wearing a complete suit. So if you feel uncomfortable, don't worry, I'll be in the same boat." She cracked slight smile and I walked over to give her a sweet kiss on the lips. Generally, seeing her in a bathrobe and dripping wet would make many fantasies run through my mind, but all I wanted to do was get today over with.

Rosalie and Alice showed up a little bit later and helped Bella get ready as Esme made Jasper, Emmett and I clean the main floor a bit and setup some tables and stuff for the reception later. Emmett and Jasper drove with their girls to the church and Bella and I stayed with Carlisle and Esme. I knew that Esme was probably going to be her rock today, but I would do my best to stay close to her and offer her any support she needed.

We arrived fairly early and Esme took Bella inside to see what had been arranged. Carlisle stood outside with me and greeted some of the early arrivals. We, of course knew no one, except for Officer Morris would had been a great help to all of us the past few days. Just as Bella was about to come outside and greet guests with us, Mike Newton walked up with someone who I assumed was his mother. I scowled at him the moment I saw him and Jasper, seeing the exchange, came and stood beside me.

"Today is not the day for a scene Edward," he advised as he put his hand on my shoulder to try to calm me down. I hadn't even thought of the possibility of him showing up, but he was from Forks and it was a holiday weekend still, so he had no doubt heard about Chief Swan's passing. He wandered up to me as his mom went into the church to sit down.

"I'm not here to start anything," he said in what seemed like the most honest tone Mike Newton could muster. "I knew the Chief for many years and I'm just here to pay my respects."

"Fine, but if you do anything to sadden or anger Bella, there will be hell to pay," I said crossly. He nodded his head and walked into the church to find his mother. I saw him walk past Bella, but he didn't say anything to her, he just offered a saddened face and kept going.

When the ceremony was over, Bella and I stood by the front door with Carlisle and Esme as they invited people back to Charlie's house for a reception. Our friends were forced by Esme to head back to the house and setup all the food that Esme had prepared that morning. I looked down at Bella, and she was tired. Tired of shaking hands with people she never met. Tired of saying thank you when people said they were sorry for her loss, and just generally tired of everything. She looked so defeated when she finally slid in the back of my parents' rental car and we headed back to her house.

"Do you not want to go in?" I asked before we pulled into her driveway.

"No, I can handle it. It's only a few more hours' right?" she said hopefully. I nodded my head and helped her from the car, walking hand and hand to face the friends and loved ones of Charlie's. Bella and I sat together in the living room in two of the most uncomfortable chairs I had ever had the pleasure of sitting in. I tried to make a joke about them, but Bella was too busy being bombarded by elderly women who informed her that Charlie was the sweetest police chief the town ever had, to even notice.

A little while later, when there was virtually no one left in the house with the exception of the 8 of us; Esme said we were welcome to change into something more comfortable. Bella didn't move. I grabbed her hand and picked her up into my arms and carried her up to her bedroom. She was drained, numb and distant again. I threw my suit jacket on a rocking chair in the corner and slowly started to undress her, to make her more comfortable. I finally managed to get her back into her pajamas and crawled into bed alongside her, stroking soft hair until she fell asleep again. She had made it through the day, now we just needed to get through the rest of our lives.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: So this one is sort of a filler chapter. Nothing too dramatic. Definitely no break ups. I was listening to "Cannonball" by Damien Rice during this chapter; once again, I highly recommend it. The lyrics are perfect.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

I rolled over and found no one beside me. Most of my suit was still on, but Bella was nowhere to be found. I glowered at her clock radio and saw that it was almost 10. Of course, she wasn't here, she had an appointment with the lawyer at 9 this morning and my parents had gone with her. I wandered aimlessly into the bathroom to take a shower and finally get this damned suit off. I thought jeans were uncomfortable to sleep in, but this was worse.

Once I was done getting ready, I made a fresh pot of coffee and plopped down on the couch to read the newspaper which was still being left at the doorway. I called the publishing company and cancelled Charlie's subscription. It's not like anyone would be using it anymore. After all, I was going to try to convince Bella to come back to school with me till Christmas break, and then we would come back here and sort everything out else. We hadn't talked about what she wanted to do with everything, which I assumed Charlie had left her. Did she want to sell the house? Give everything to charity or just leave it all as is, like some memorial to him. I wasn't keen on the last one, but I figured there was something we could do.

"This is all a bit overwhelming," said Bella as they got back to the house around lunchtime. I was on the verge of falling asleep on the couch when I heard them pull into the driveway.

"Morning," I said as I dragged my tired body off the couch and gave Bella a tender kiss on the forehead. "Everything go okay?" Bella just nodded her head and let Carlisle do all the talking.

"As we expected, Bella got everything. Charlie had no other family left, so it's all hers. The house is fully paid for, there's a decent sized insurance policy and a retirement fund. Mr. Bowler, the lawyer is going to start the paperwork to get everything assigned to Bella. It'll take a little while, but everything seemed pretty straightforward," Carlisle said, sounding somewhat pleased. It seemed like his work here wouldn't be as difficult as he thought.

"Well, that's good right?" I asked pensively.

"Yeah, too bad I have no idea what to do with any of it?" said Bella as she took off her coat and made herself more comfortable. "I'm just not ready to deal with all of his stuff yet. I hold almost no attachment to any of this stuff, it was all his. Can't we just sell it all?" she asked painfully.

"Bella hon, you'll regret not going through everything, trust me. Why don't I stay with you for a few days and we can go through it all, deciding as we go along what to do with everything?" suggested Esme as she peered through the fridge looking for something to make for lunch.

"No," I shouted, a lot more loudly than I had intended.

"What?" Carlisle asked as he shot me a curious glance.

"Shouldn't we be getting back to classes?"

"We called the school this morning, and Bella has a reprieve for the rest of the week, but yes, you should get back to school. You and I will drive back this afternoon, and I will catch a flight home this afternoon. Esme how about you come back to Chicago on Saturday?" suggested Carlisle. He was glaring at me now. I had a feeling I wouldn't have a choice in this matter. I looked at Bella and she just nodded her head in agreement.

"Fine, that's settled then. I'll stay here with Bella for the rest of the week and get everything straightened out, and you boys will head back to Seattle this afternoon." Said Esme as she found the fixings for sandwiches and started to make us all lunch. When we had finished eating, I insisted that Bella and I take a quick walk before I had to leave. Carlisle shot me a quick glance and told me to make it quick because had to be back in Chicago for an important meeting first thing in the morning.

We walked slowly across her yard, hand in hand, and down the street to the little park at the corner. We sat beside each other on a bench that overlooked the small park. It reminded me of sitting on the bench at Grant Park, but I didn't want to remind her of that moment right now.

"Are you sure you are okay with me leaving and my mom staying?" I asked curiously, and really hoping she would beg me to stay.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Your mom and I are like kindred spirits or some shit. She'll help me get this stuff organized and then I can start to move on or something like that. She asked me to come to Chicago with you for Christmas" My mouth dropped open in surprise. Esme hadn't mentioned anything to me about this. Not that I was complaining, but a little advance notice would have been sweet.

"What did you say?"

"I told her I wasn't sure yet. I'm just trying to get through each day as it comes, ya know," she said as she played with the zipper on her jacket nervously.

"I don't want to go back to school without you," I confessed to her.

"It's only a few days. You can call every day if you start going through withdrawals," she tried to joke.

"You might regret that Swan," I said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me. I gave her a light kiss on the forehead and suggested we head back to house before Carlisle sent out search and rescue dogs. Ten minutes later, Carlisle sat in the driver's seat of his rented car and stared at me on the porch saying goodbye to Bella.

"I'll be back at school before you know it," she said sweetly. I kissed her again and hopped into the car with my dad. As we pulled out of the driveway, I kept my eyes on her. My mom had wrapped her arm around Bella in a very motherly way, and I thought I saw Bella start to cry. This week was gonna suck.

**Bella POV**

I stood firm, with Esme at my side, watching Edward drive away and I immediately started to cry. Esme wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into the house, running her hands down my back to comfort me. I went and sat on the couch in the living room while busied she herself in the kitchen making a pot of tea for us.

"My father died when I was just a bit older than you," said Esme as she sat down on the couch and folded her legs in front of her like she was 12 and we were best girlfriends. I just blinked at her through her tears. "He had a heart attack. It was one of the darkest few months of my life, but thank god for Carlisle, he stood by me. Just like Edward is doing with you."

"I didn't want him to leave," I admitted sadly as she handed me my tea.

"I know you didn't. But honestly Bella, you will never be able to grieve for Charlie if you are putting all of your effort and focus into Edward. I see my past when I look at you and Edward; you are just like Carlisle and I were when we were in college. I don't want you to come to resent Edward, so let's get everything settled and you can move on. I know your father would want you to be happy," she said with a slight smile.

We sat sipping on our drinks for a bit before she suggested we get the big work out of the way and start going through Charlie's belongings. We headed up to his bedroom and I immediately froze before we crossed the threshold into his room. Esme gave me a reassuring look, reminding me that I was strong enough to do this, and I entered, albeit tentatively.

"I already know you said to just give away everything in the kitchen to charity, but I figured you would want some of this stuff for yourself," she said as she picked up a small photo Charlie had on his nightstand of him and I. I was about five years old and he had taken me fishing. I looked so grossed out, as Charlie held a fish he had caught in front of us, but he was so proud.

We spent hours making piles in his room of what we could keep, what we could give to charity and what was pure junk. Why my father had kept an old pair of hiking boots that were covered in holes, I would never know. We didn't talk much while we sorted, but Esme always made sure I was comfortable. Then I recalled something she had said earlier in the day.

"Esme, why did you say that you knew my father would want me to be happy? Had you spoken to him?" I asked extremely curious. I was sorting through fishing magazines… all junk.

"Edward gave me his phone number, and I talked to him two weeks before thanksgiving, just to make sure he was actually okay with you coming to visit us. I didn't want him to be upset or feel like we were taking you away from him." I was absolutely floored. Edward never mentioned this to me, and neither did Charlie. Of course, it made me wonder about all the other things I might not know. "He was very proud of you. So pleased that you had gotten into UW and even more pleased that you had broken up with some boy named Mike," she laughed gently.

"Yeah, everyone was pleased I broke up with Mike."

"Edward especially. I could tell the very first day I called him at school that he had changed for the better by going with his friends to UW. I am so pleased he has you in his life." I just smiled at her, and she began to tell me little stories about Edwards's childhood that made me love him even more. Before we knew it, it was almost 10pm and we had completely skipped dinner. Charlie's room was completely bar, except for the old furniture, and I had two small boxes full of mementos I wanted to keep.

Just before I was about to head to bed for the night, Esme came into my room for another little heart to heart conversation. She sat on the edge of my bed and looked really serious.

"Bella, Edward told me that he said he loved you," I just offered up a sad smile. "I know you love him, I'm not questioning that. He said he told you and then moments later you got the call about your dad. I just want to tell you that the two things are not mutually exclusive. Please don't think of the death of your father whenever Edward says he loves you. It will break your heart and you will never be able to move on." I nodded my head. She was completely right.

"Edward has only told me he loves me once since that moment," I said dejectedly.

"Edward is petrified that you won't be able to think of anything but Charlie every time he professes his love to you." Esme admitted. I didn't want that either. "Just think about that, and have a good night," said Esme as stood up and closed the door behind her, to go sleep on the couch.

My eyes immediately scanned around the room, looking for my cell phone. I pressed number one on the phone and it instantly called Edwards' phone. I was nervous, I was anxious, I was lonely. I'm sure my face practically lit up the room when he finally answered.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, Bella. Well, yes, but that's okay. Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding a little bit on edge.

"Yes, everything's fine. I missed you."

"Fuck, I miss you too Bella. It took virtually all my willpower not to hop in my Volvo and drive back to Forks when Carlisle dropped me off at the apartment earlier."

"You don't have to come, as long as I can talk to you every night. Your mom has been awesome by the way," I mentioned. We talked for a few minutes more about what I ended up doing with my day, and about how boring his day has been since he got home. The conversation was normal, it wasn't forced and I smiled for what seemed like the first time in days.

"Edward," I whispered.

"Hmm?" he said sounding sleepy again.

"I love you."

"I love you too Bella. Always." And it wasn't there. He said he loved me, and I only thought about him. I didn't think about the phone call, or the days following. I just thought about Edward and how I wished I was curled up in his arms this very moment.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Thanks for the excellent reviews on the recent chapter. I'm slowly getting away from the drama and back into the fluffy, funny romance stuff, so please enjoy.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

It was Friday. Finally. Esme had called me and asked me to drive up to Forks to pick her and Bella up. I would be staying over at the house tonight, and then we would drive back to Seattle early tomorrow morning. I was beyond excited. I hadn't seen Bella in five long, tortuous days. This was the longest I had been apart from her since we met. _That wasn't going to happen again_, I told myself. I hated every single moment of our separation.

When I finally pulled into the driveway just before dinner time, there was a big 'for sale' sign on the front lawn. The house looked different since I was here last and I noticed immediately that the boat and truck were gone. There was no movement in the house, so I honked my horn, impolite I know, but then Bella ran out of the house excitedly. I picked her up in my arms and twirled her around gently as I kissed her lips sweetly.

We had spent over an hour every night this past week on the phone, just talking. It was like the days before we were dating and would have casual conversations about meaningless shit. When I looked into her eyes, there was still a lot of sorrow there, but there was a glint of happiness when I kissed her, and it made me feel like everything was going to be alright.

"So, you're selling the old girl?" I said as I pointed to the sign on her lawn.

"Yeah. I thought of renting it out, but then I realized that I would never live here again, so why not let someone else create their own memories here," she said with a tiny smile. I just wrapped my arms around her waist and walked into the house with her. "The real estate agent is going to handle all the negotiations with your mom, but I get all the money."

She looked nervous when she mentioned the money. I had a feeling she didn't want to spend any of it, like it was tainted or something. I decided not to discuss it any further with her unless she brought it up first.

"Edward, good to see you," said my Mom as she walked into the room looking at ease. She informed me that she had ordered some pizza because all of the kitchen stuff was hauled off to charity the day before.

"Pizza, sure… sounds good," I said as I sat Bella on my lap and began playing with her hair soothingly. "The gang is throwing you a little welcome home party tomorrow night," I added casually. She immediately tensed up. "Don't worry… just the six of us. We'll hang at your place, if you want."

"That sounds good. I could use a night with my friends," she said eventually. "Although I'd prefer to be alone with just you Cullen," she whispered into my ear. I practically jumped out of my skin as she then followed up her remark by running her fingers gently down my chest. Thank god my mom had left the room.

"Bella Swan, what has gotten into you?" I asked, intrigued by her proposition.

"It's been a while since I held you close to me. I never even got to thank you properly for your declaration of love," she said as she leaned her head into my neck and started nibbling my ear. I pushed her back from me gently, and she went back in, this time biting my earlobe very hard.

"Bella, relax," I said as she finally relented. "Trust me, I want you. But my mom is in the next room." I said, irritated with myself for having to turn her down.

"I'm not mad," she started saying. "I've just learned not to take things for granted, and I don't want to be apart from you."

"I love you,"

"I love you too Edward," she said happily. Suddenly the pizza delivery guy arrived and I sadly had to lift Bella from my lap. I had a raging hard on and wouldn't move so I scooted the chair further until I was covered by the table and just waited as my mom served up dinner and we ate in peace. After dinner, we walked through the house quietly and I noticed all the things that had changed. In the living room, there was a large selection of furniture marked "charity" and just as many marked "storage". Beside the storage pile was about a dozen boxes, which I assumed held mementos like pictures, photo albums etc… Bella looked wistfully at the piles as we walked by.

"That stuff goes into storage in the morning, until I decide what I want to do with it. I can't keep it at the dorm," she said as she led me up the stairs to her bedroom. It was practically a shell of what her room was like only a week ago. Nothing on the walls, a couple of boxes and her bed was all that was left. I sat down on the bed and patted it, signaling her to join me. She lay down and I followed suit, snuggling up behind her and wrapping my arms around her as my head found her shoulder.

"Why don't you get an apartment and then you have somewhere to put it all?" I suggested. There was no response.

"I don't want to live alone," she said sadly.

"I'm sure Rose and Alice would love to live with you. Heck, with all the money you have now, you could probably buy a little house or something. You could make them pay you rent," I chuckled, imaging Rosalie writing Bella a check every month. That would be funny.

"You wouldn't live with me?" she asked dejectedly. I hadn't even thought about that. Emmett and Jasper would be pissed if I left them high and dry halfway through the semester, but the thought of waking up next to Bella every morning was very tempting.

"I might," I said slightly unsure. "Let's get through the holidays and then we can discuss it again?" She nodded her head gently and I kissed her neck. How I had missed that neck. "Are you coming back for Christmas, with me?" I asked hopeful.

"Esme won't take no for an answer." _God bless my mother._

"It'll be fun. Esme makes a big deal out of Christmas. Knowing her generosity she'll probably buy you a pony or something," I joked as I heard her chuckle gently.

"If I do get a pony, I'm calling it something stupid like 'My Little Pony' or 'Jasper'" she laughed as she rolled over to face me.

"I think Jasper might kick your ass, Bella," I said confidently. He most definitely would kick her ass, or at least torment her verbally for a while. "On a positive note though, Alice mentioned this week that she is going home with Jasper for Christmas. Apparently her parents are going on a cruise with some of their friends, so they are ditching her."

"Maybe the six of us can do something in Chicago for New Years," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice. She was almost starting to sound like the old Bella again.

"Yeah, we can talk to them about it tomorrow when we get home. Do you want to go back to your place or mine?"

"Would you be upset if I said mine, so that I could spend a few hours with Alice and Rosalie? They have been so supportive and I hardly said anything to them when they were here last weekend. Then we can head to your place to party." I just nodded my head, understanding her need to catch up with her friends. Plus, it would give me a couple of hours to work on the music theory report I had due on Monday morning.

"You do realize that Alice will probably just talk your head off and force you into sexy clothes that make you completely uncomfortable right?"

"I'm counting on that actually, Cullen," said Bella as she moved a few stray strands of hair from my eyes and kissed me gently on the lips. She buried her head into my chest and before I knew it, she was fast asleep.

**Bella POV**

I woke up actually feeling a bit refreshed, until I looked around the room and remembered where I was. Still in Charlie's house, but I wasn't alone, Edward was with me and that made everything a little more bearable. I could hear Esme downstairs, probably still packing some stuff away or cleaning out the fridge. That woman always had to be doing something. She had been such an overwhelming help during these past few days. She had contacted the real estate agent, helped transfer some of Charlie's funds into an account in my name, sold the boat and the truck, called all the charities to pick up the furniture… she did it all. I didn't think I would ever be able to thank her properly for being my guardian angel these past few days.

I kissed Edward lightly on the lips and rubbed his arms, trying to get him awake. "Come on Cullen, your mom probably has the car packed already." He just shook his head.

"I've still got the keys. At best, she has everything on the porch for me to pack into the trunk," he joked as stretched and fell back onto the pillow. "Why don't you go shower and get dressed and I will get cleaned up when you are done."

"Why don't we save time and shower together?" I asked with a mischievous grin across my face. I really wasn't trying to have sex with him in the shower, but it would be quicker and a lot more fun this way.

"Bella Swan, are you trying to get me naked?" he said sarcastically, even though he practically leapt from my bed.

"Always," I said as I followed him to the bathroom. Esme would probably just figure one of us was showering. "Wait a second," I said nervously before heading downstairs quickly. I told Esme that Edward was still asleep and I was going to hop in the shower, and that I would wake him when I was done. She quickly agreed and said she would take the Volvo to go get some breakfast for all of us. I ran upstairs and got her the keys and threw them to her at the bottom of the stairs._ I loved this woman. _By the time the screen door had shut, Edward was already running the water for the shower.

"Come on in slowpoke," he said as he hopped into the hot shower and motioned for me to join him with his index finger. It had been so long since we had been alone together, undressed, I actually felt a bit nervous. He knew where all my little scars and scrapes were, he had kissed them all. I knew where he had freckles and where his birthmark was, but today just felt different. I slowly took my clothes off, and got into the shower, with his back to me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his back gently, before he turned around to face me. He leaned forward and gave me a tender kiss on my shoulder, then my collarbone and finally my ear lobe.

"It's just a shower Cullen, no sex. Water conservation, remember?" I said as I tried with all my might not to get too excited by his touch. It wasn't really working.

"All right then, let me wash your hair," he said softly as he turned me around and reached for the shampoo bottle.

"That's body wash," I practically yelled at him. I did not want that in my hair.

"Oh, yeah right. Then hand me a washcloth, I'll start with this," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed. I handed him the cloth and he immediately started washing my back and shoulders. He was certainly taking his sweet time, not that I minded, but we had plans tonight and I didn't want to look like a prune. What the hell would Alice say then? Once he seemed to be done with the back, he grabbed my arm and gently turned me around to wash the front. I don't think his eyes once left my breasts.

"Edward," I said as poked him gently in the ribs. "Pay attention."

"Oh something's at attention," he laughed as he kissed my lips gently. I nudged him in the ribs again, this time a little too hard. "Oww… okay, I heard ya Swan. More cleaning, less salivating." I was trying to stay focused, I really was. He washed my hair and rinsed it quiet thoroughly. When it was my turn to wash him, he was almost impatient. I stood on my tip toes to wash his hair, and he had to hold me tightly to make sure I didn't slip. When I was finally finished, he looked at me with a sad face.

"That's it?" he said as I reached down and went to turn the water off. "I don't think so." He pushed me against the far wall of the shower, placing both hands on either side of my head, and leaned down to kiss me. My mouth instinctively opened and welcomed his. It had been way too long. The gentle tender kisses had been great, but the return of the more passionate Edward was a change for the better.

His tongue licked my bottom lip gently before pushing my mouth open again. He drove his tongue deep inside me, encircling my tongue with his. My hands reached behind him to pull him closer to me, and I started to run my nails down his back with enough force to leave marks. He bent his head into my neck and began licking and kissing furiously. I started to pant softly as he grabbed my leg and hitched it up onto his hip. He was driving himself onto me and I loved every single second of it. Until we heard his car pull into the driveway.

"Cock blocked by my mom. Lovely," he said dejectedly as he pulled back from me slowly.

"Don't worry babe. We'll be back in Seattle soon. Before you know it we will have had a ton of alone time," I said as I licked his neck and hopped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself and handed him one.

"But I've never had shower sex," he said with a playful frown.

"Seriously Cullen, we have the rest of our lives for this stuff," I said, almost immediately mortified that I had implied I would be with him for the rest of my life. Luckily, he said nothing. He smiled and kissed my forehead before he ran quickly out of the shower to the bedroom to try to avoid being caught by his mom.

Two hours later, we were on the road back to Seattle. Esme was talking animatedly in the backseat about Christmas break while Edward drove and I held his hand tightly. "You'll love Chicago at Christmas, Bella. There is so much to see and do. We will definitely have to go shopping too." I groaned internally.

"Maybe you can take Rosalie and Alice with you when you go shopping," suggested Edward. Well, that might make the trip a little bit more pleasurable, but not by much. Esme thought this was a wonderful idea, and got all sorts of elaborate ideas involving having the six of us over on Christmas Eve to celebrate. "I'll check with the guys before you plan anything major mom. Their parents might have something planned too."

We immediately took Esme to Sea-Tac Airport to catch her flight. She had been running a bit behind schedule, but thanks to Edwards's incessant speeding, she now had plenty of time to wait for her flight back to O'Hare. She gave us each huge hugs and way too many kisses, before walking away mumbling something about Douglas Firs in her living room. I shrugged my shoulders and hopped back into the car with Edward. We were back at the dorms just before 3 that afternoon and it seemed like it had been a lot longer than 2 weeks since I had been here.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" he asked as he pulled in front of my building.

"If you do, I'll never see Alice or Rosalie cause you'll probably drag me back into the shower again," I laughed happily.

"So? Is there a problem with that?" he asked as he reached up to my face and slid some fallen tendrils of hair behind my ears.

"No, but there's plenty of time later. I'll head in and spend a few hours with the girls, you go do your report and we'll be over at around 7 for this party you guys have planned." I said stepped out of the car and grabbed my bags from the backseat.

"Just so you are aware Swan, I had no hand in planning this shindig. If I had planned it, it would involve you and me, naked, and nothing else," he said sexily as he winked at me. I closed the car door and went into the building, now officially sexually frustrated. He always knew how to get to me. I climbed the stairs to our floor, noticing how absolutely nothing had changed. A few of the flyers on the bulletin board were gone and new ones took their place, advertising parties, tutoring and the like. Nothing interesting.

I found the door to our suite unlocked, so I knew someone was home. "Hello," I called out as I put my luggage on the floor. Suddenly I heard Alice's door fly open and she ran into my arms, bursting with enthusiasm. "Nice to see you too Alice."

"Bella, it is so good to have you back. This place has been lonely and boring without you," she said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder and led me towards the couch.

"What am I, chopped liver?" said Rosalie as she stepped from her room with Emmett close behind. He gave me a quick wave and Rosalie a quick kiss before leaving us alone. "He'll be around later."

"Did I miss anything exciting?" I asked as I played with my hair nervously. I wanted to talk about any topic other than Charlie, and thankfully, they were both willing to discuss anything. We talked about Alice's trip home with Jasper; her major project due in her history of fashion class and the new Manolo Blahniks she bought on sale. Alice did most of the talking, with Rosalie shooting me sympathetic glances every now and again.

"It's good to have you back," said Rosalie after 45 straight minutes of Alice's chatter. "See what I have had to live through without you here. I was ready to move in with Emmett just to get away from her." That reminded me of the conversation I had with Edward last night.

"Speaking of moving… would you girls like to move into an apartment or house together next fall?" I asked with a little bit of trepidation. They probably wouldn't. They probably had already discussed plans with their boyfriends for next fall, especially since next September was so far away.

"Why wait?" asked Alice. "I only paid for the dorm till the end of the first semester. I'm sure we could easily get our money back for second semester if you paid for it." I nodded my head at her, because I too had not yet paid for second semester dorm fees.

"I thought of buying a little place, and then you guys could pay me rent. I now have all this damned money from Charlie, might as well use some of it to make me happy right?" I asked as I raised my eye brows expectantly.

"You don't want to live with Edward?" asked Rosalie curiously.

"We're not ready for that yet. Sure, he would probably be over every single day, but so would Jasper and Emmett." Rosalie nodded her head in agreement. She was in. So was Alice. It was decided we would start looking for a new place next weekend, and I was actually looking forward to something in the future.

"Oh and by the way, Esme is hoping to see you guys on Christmas Eve. Edward mentioned you might be going with Jasper to Chicago for Christmas, so Esme is planning a dinner party or Christmas Eve Massacre, something like that. You guys need to come." I pleaded sweetly.

"Like I would miss out on Esme's cooking. That woman rocks," said Rosalie as Alice bounced excitedly in her seat. I guess they were on board for that too. Alice stood and grabbed both of our hands, dragging us into her room like unwilling protestors.

"We need to start getting ready for this party tonight," she beamed impatiently. Great, two hours of Alice dressing me. Thank god I would see Edward soon.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for an update. I know how everyone loves that I update so frequently, but life happens! Happy party lemon for lysvia.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

"It's formal," I said into my cell phone reluctantly. I was still standing in Alice's room as she threw various dresses in my direction, wondering if any of them would fit me.

"It's what?" said Edward curiously. Alice was dead for this one. Who goes to hang out with their friends and drink in formal attire?

"Formal. You know pants and dress shirt, no jeans. Blame Alice, not me. Apparently she already got the okay for this crap from Jasper and Emmett and now I get the joy of freezing my ass off when we come over there later," I said feeling like a complete idiot. If she puts me in some freaking ball gown or something, I might just need to boycott the whole thing.

"Got it. Formal. I'm not wearing my suit though," said Edward. He clearly wasn't into this, just like me. "Do you want me to come pick you guys up?"

"Yes, please. I'm absolutely scared of what Alice is going to put me in."

"If she does something really terrible, I promise you can change into my boxers when you get here… deal?" I agreed excitedly and finally relented somewhat to Alice and her evil ways.

"Okay, Edward is going to pick us up in one hour. So do your worst," I said, hoping that I would look like crap and I would get the immense pleasure of being locked away in his bedroom with him. _I can only hope._

Just over an hour later and there was a knock on the door and Rosalie went to answer it, as Alice put the finishing touches on my hair. Alice had squeezed me into some hideous shiny silver thing. It was basically a headband that wrapped around my body. I was petrified that if I sat down everyone would see the goods. Alice kept reassuring me that was not the case, but I wasn't certain. Rosalie looked gorgeous as usual in a red halter dress and Alice was wearing the longest dress out of all of us, it was a light purple shade, but it might just have been long because she was so short. Regardless, I felt completely naked compared to my friends. I slowly wandered into the living room, basically dreading Edward's reaction, but he said nothing when he saw me. His eyes kinda bugged out of his head, but he said nothing. I wasn't sure if this was good or not.

Everyone was ready and waiting for me, so I quickly sprinted to my bedroom to find the bag I had packed with me to bring to Edwards. I usually had an emergency bag packed with toothbrush, panties, bra, stuff like that, and today was no exception. I tossed on my big winter coat and went out into the cold night, still feeling naked. As we walked down the stairs to the front door, Edward held me close to him and whispered into my ear.

"You look so fucking sexy," he said huskily. Maybe this dress wasn't that much of a catastrophe, I thought hopefully.

The drive to the boys' apartment seemed to go by very slowly. It was cold and freezing rain was coming down, so Edward was driving a bit more carefully. He also was keeping his right hand on the inside of my thigh, running his hands up and down slowly. He was good. When we arrived, he ran upstairs with my overnight bag and to finally get changed into his 'formal' clothes. Jasper and Emmett were sitting in the living room organizing shot glasses, liquor and a deck of playing cards on the coffee table.

"Are we playing FUBAR again?" I asked as I eyed up everything the boys had put out.

"Maybe. After all, I do love that game," said Emmett as he took a shot all by himself.

"Calm down Em, it's only 7. We have all night to drink," chastised Rosalie as she wandered out of Emmetts' room. Edward came back down a few minutes later, looking very handsome. He had on simple black pants, a white dress shirt and black tie. He was the only one wearing a tie and I had to laugh when Alice insisted that Jasper and Emmett go put one on. She finally relented after they boy yelled at her because they didn't own any ties. Edward just shrugged his shoulders and pulled me over to the couch with him.

He sat down first, grabbing me by the waist and guiding me onto his lap. "You must sit here all night Bella," he whispered forcefully into my ear as he bit my ear lobe. I just nodded my head instinctively. I looked around the room and thankfully no one had heard our playful exchange. A few minutes later, all six of us were sitting in the living room, dressed entirely too proper for the apartment and Emmett poured us each a shot.

"I propose a toast," said Emmett has he held up his shot and everyone else followed suit. "To Charlie, for leaving us with the best part of him," he smiled as he downed his drink immediately. Edward looked at me with a reassuring glance and we took our shots together. God I hoped there would be no more talk of Charlie tonight.

"Now let's get down to business. Bella suggested we play FUBAR but I'm recommending strip poker." My eyes immediately glazed over and I opened my mouth and yelled before I even knew what I was saying.

"I can't play poker. Pick something else Emmett," I groaned.

"Strip Clue?" he asked again happily. I shook my head in anger.

"Strip Cranium?" He laughed as Rosalie smacked him in the back of the head.

"How on earth would we even play that Emmett? We don't own a single board game," said Jasper, clearly just as frustrated as me.

"That's why I initially said strip poker. Now I'm just throwing names out there."

"No strip poker. Alice here only let me squeeze on two pieces of clothing, and I can't play. I'll be out in 2 hands, and I don't think your friend over here would appreciate that," I said dryly, thinking honesty was the best policy as I pointed at Edward.

"He'd appreciate it alright," laughed Emmett again as both Alice and Rosalie smacked him upside the head this time.

"Calm down people, I was kidding," said Emmett remorsefully. I shot him a forgiving glance as Edward tightened his grip around my waist.

"Only two pieces of clothing Bella?" asked Edward, as he whispered tenderly into my ear. I just nodded my head again. It was like suddenly any time Edward spoke to me I couldn't talk. "We'll have to discuss that later Swan." _I was looking forward to that_.

The rest of the night was fairly innocuous, with the exception of all the dirty things Edward was whispering quietly to me. I had sat on his lap the entire time, in my short silver dress, which I still felt uncomfortable in. Edward would pull the cards from the deck for me as Jasper poured all the shots. I think I was about 5 shots deep after only two rounds. I was going to be so drunk tonight, probably too drunk. Whenever we weren't drinking, Edward was tenderly rubbing my cold thighs with his hands. I was tempted to ask him to get a blanket because my legs were so cold, but I knew if that happened then his hands would be doing very indecent things. Things I didn't necessarily want done in a room filled with my closest friends.

Every time I looked at Alice, she seemed very pleased with herself. I wasn't sure if that was because of the effect my dress was having on Edward or the effect her dress was having on Jasper. Either way, she looked practically blissful. I, on the other hand was having trouble staying sober, and I really wanted to stay as sober as possible. It was almost 3 hours into our booze fest, when I suddenly got a semi-brilliant idea.

"Edward," I said quietly. "I'm not feeling so well right now." The look that shot across his face was one of pure disappointed. So I winked at him, hoping he would take the hint. I glanced over at Alice, who didn't even seem to notice I had spoken.

"I'm gonna go let Bella lay down for a bit, she's not feeling so great," he said as he lifted me up and carried me upstairs to his room. He put me gently down on the bed and got concerned. "Are you really not feeling good? Is there something I can get for you?" I just laughed at him softly.

"I'm fine, a little more buzzed than I want to be, but I am fine," I said as I leaned up and kissed him gently.

"Oh, now I get it," he said as he pushed me back onto the bed and hovered over me. "So, what two pieces of clothing are they Bella?"

**Edward POV**

Ever since Bella had mentioned hours earlier that she was only wearing two pieces of clothing, I could think of nothing else. I couldn't tell you about half of the conversations that happened around the coffee table tonight. I think I heard a casual mention of Christmas and an apartment, but I just nodded my head and continued getting lost in my fantasies of Bella. Of course, the reality of Bella was a million times better.

So, when she told me she wasn't feeling well, I was crestfallen. I was so sure I was getting laid tonight, excited couldn't even begin to describe it. Now I was practically shattered, sure it was only sex, but it had been 3 weeks since we last did it, and it was beginning to take its toll on me. When I finally got Bella upstairs to my room to see how she was feeling, I was even more surprised to find out she had been lying just to get herself alone with me. Now I could find out exactly what two pieces of clothing she had on.

"So… what are they?" I asked again, my interest piqued more than ever. "Well, obviously the dress. My other guess would be panties, seeing as the dress is strapless. Am I right? Please say I am right?" I was practically begging by this point.

She leaned her head up to my ear and softly whispered to me, "I lied, there's nothing under the dress Edward." I was now completely unglued. I pushed myself down on her, kissing her with furious passion and reached behind her to find the zipper, absolutely desperate to get this damned dress off of her. My fingers fumbled all over the back of this tiny piece of fabric they called a dress. _Where the fuck is it?_ Then I heard her chuckling quietly beneath me.

"It's on the side," she giggled as she pushed me back onto my knees and sat up in front of me, sliding the zipper down. I pressed her back onto my bed swiftly and pulled the dress from her body, throwing it hard against the wall.

"Much better," I sighed as I leaned back down and began kissing every square inch of her luscious body. I started at her belly button and kissed my way up, across her breasts to her neck, repeating the motion for several minutes. I loved each and every thing about this girl, especially when she was spread naked on my bed like she is now. Her fingers ran through my hair, gently tugging every time my mouth or tongue would lick or bite her nipples. I wanted to take my time and lavish as much attention on her as I could, but I wasn't sure it was possible.

As I leaned my head up to kiss her lips softly, I felt her hands start unbuttoning my shirt. _Good idea Bella_ I told myself. Here she was completely naked underneath me and I was still fully dressed. I let her finish undoing my shirt as I reached up and pulled my tie from around my neck.

"I want that," she said, practically out of breath. _God she was so damned sexy. _I loosened it a bit and pulled it over my head and handed it to her. She eagerly slipped it over her own head and tightened it a little. _Even more fucking sexy. _As soon as my shirt was gone, she reached up and started on my belt. I was so excited; I just hopped off the bed and completely stripped down in seconds. No need to waste our time fumbling with clothing. Bella just laughed as I hopped back on the bed and swept her into my arms again.

My mouth immediately met hers, and we kissed tenderly, softly, passionately, for what seemed like forever, when suddenly, Bella pushed me onto my back and was now straddling my waist. "What a pleasant surprise," I squeaked out before she started to assault my neck and lips with her mouth, while grinding her hips down on me. Bella wasn't usually one to be so aggressive, but I wasn't complaining. Not one bit. When she leaned back away from my face, I gently used my tie that she was still wearing and pulled her back down to my awaiting lips.

The whole time we were kissing, she was moving herself back and forth over my hard cock. It was almost unbearable how badly I wanted to be inside of her. I was desperately thinking about reaching into my nightstand for the trusty ol' condom, when she beat me to it.

"A wee bit excited babe?" I chuckled as she ripped the package apart and gently slid it onto me. She just nodded her head, and positioned herself above me again. I slowly grabbed her hips and guided her down onto me, gradually. It was pure heaven. I leaned forward to a sitting position, with Bella never moving, and I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her neck and just enjoying being home again. Suddenly, she gripped my shoulders and started pushing herself up and down on me. Here I was being all romantic, and she wanted was a good fuck.

I grabbed her hips and helped her slide up and down on my cock. Her hands found my hair again and began pulling lightly with virtually every movement we made together. Bella was moaning my name eagerly and it was driving me absolutely nuts. As she arched her back and pushed away from me slowly, I leaned my head down to her and started sucking on her nipples gently, alternating between each one. Her moans were coming faster now, and so was the pace at which I was fucking her. It was amazing. I was about to burst, so I reached down between Bella's legs and with one finger started rubbing her clit, ever so gently. She shook with each little motion, and I sped it up, eager for her to come with me. Finally, I felt her entire body tense up and low moan of my name escape her lips. It drove me over the edge, and I plunged myself into her one more time before exploding deep inside her.

Bella dropped her head onto my shoulder as she panted heavily. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back onto my bed beside me as I kissed her forehead gently.

"I love you Bella," I whispered softly.

"I love you too."

"So much for being sick," yelled Emmett from the main floor as a huge burst of laughter followed. _Fucking thin walls._ Surprisingly, Bella just laughed about it, not seeming embarrassed at all.

"I guess we should have turned the stereo on huh?"


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for an update. I know how everyone loves how quickly I post, and I appreciate the encouragement.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

The next morning was really awkward. I had wanted to do so much more with Edward, but remembering that everyone was nearby, just completely turned me off. I think it was the first time I had not been aroused when Edward was in a 30 mile radius of me. When we woke up, I wanted to avoid everyone. Edward took one for the team and went downstairs and grabbed us some cereal so that I could avoid them. I was embarrassed. Mainly, because I had been pretty loud the night before. I knew Emmett would be the first to say something, it would be crude and even more embarrassing and I wasn't ready for that.

"Oh, calm down Swan," he said reassuringly once he had returned from his shower and was getting dressed. "It's not like I haven't heard Emmett and Rosalie going at it. Although I have been trying to block that from my memory, but it has happened."

"Yeah, and I'm sure they were mortified," I said confidently.

"Actually they both asked me if I liked what I heard," he said appearing serious. My mouth dropped open in utter disbelief. "I was kidding Bella. The sooner you face it, the sooner it will go away." I just shrugged my shoulders and reached for my overnight bag and started tossing on some clothes.

"I'll shower at my place though."

"Fine by me. Perhaps I can join you?" he winked mischievously.

"How about we skip tonight?" I asked apologetically. "I need to get caught up on some reading for class tomorrow. I'm already so far behind because of… well everything. You probably have work to catch up on too?"

"Not really Bella. I had a lot of free time last week, remember? I caught up on everything I missed, and even started a new project which isn't due till the day before Christmas break. It's okay though, you go do your thing today." He said sympathetically. I hated blowing him off. He tried to look supportive, but he was a little dejected on the inside. We headed downstairs together shortly after that to face the humorless wrath of our friends.

"Well, well. Finally awake Bella?" asked Emmett, recalling my previous thoughts that he would be the one to say something first. Rosalie immediately slapped him on the back of the head. "Ow," he moaned as I grinned happily.

"What did I tell you Emmett McCarty. Keep your fucking pie hole shut or there will be hell to pay," Rose said angrily. Emmett just shook his head. I was so relieved. "Bella, Alice and I thought about going to look at a few apartments today. Maybe we could find something close by and move when we get back from Christmas holidays. What do you think?"

"Hold the phone. You guys are moving out of residence?" said Edward incredulously. I had completely forgotten to mention this to him yesterday.

"Yeah, it was Bella's idea. None of us have paid second semester dorm fees, so we figured we would rent our own off campus place, or Bella would buy something with the money she got from… with the money she got and we would pay her rent," said Rosalie happily. Edward was not as happy.

"I thought you wanted me to live with you?" he said, clearly upset that we hadn't discussed this earlier.

"I thought you said 'maybe'. You wanted to discuss it after Christmas, and I wanted to do it now," I said unabashedly. I wasn't regretting my decision to move out with Rosalie and Alice. "It was your idea. You initially suggested I move in with the girls."

"Yeah, but I was really warming up to the idea of us living together," he whispered quietly into my ear.

"Warming up to the idea doesn't mean you are ready Edward. I want to move on and be happy again, and I think moving out of the residence will be a step in the right direction." I was not backing down on the concept of moving out. It would be great for me to live with my best girl friends.

"We might even end up in this neighborhood and then we would be closer than ever," said Alice, trying to break some of the tension between Edward and I. "If you want to back out Bella, we would understand."

"No, I don't want to back out Alice. We all agreed yesterday to move in to a place together, off campus. So, let's go look." I said angrily. I didn't want to give in to Edward right now. He had given me the idea and now he was fighting me against it. What the hell was that about?

"Fine," snapped Edward as he grabbed his car keys off the counter and stormed out of the apartment.

"I guess we're taking a cab home," said Rosalie as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder in comfort.

"I don't get him. He told me to move in with you guys. I asked him if he wanted to move in with me and he said no. He doesn't get to be upset with me about this. It's fucking stupid," I spat in frustration. We ended up leaving the apartment shortly after that. Alice grabbed a newspaper as we walked down the road to meet the city bus that was just arriving at the closest stop to the guys' apartment building.

When we got back to our apartment, we scanned through some of the ads and called a few places to make appointments to see the properties. While Alice and Rosalie were working on some homework before we went out that afternoon, I called Esme.

"Bella, what a wonderful surprise," she said excitedly. "How is it back in school hon?"

"It's fine Esme, how was your flight home? I'm sorry I kept you from Carlisle so long," I apologized again. "I have a question though. Would it be too outrageous if I purchased an apartment in Seattle?" I asked, very curious for her opinion. If she said yes, she would probably fly out here and decorate the damned thing for us.

"At your age Bella, I don't recommend it. I know real estate is a great investment, but the house in Forks isn't even sold yet. What's got you thinking about moving?"

"I didn't pay for second semester dorm fees and neither did Rose or Alice. We all thought it would be good to have an off campus apartment. Plus, honestly, Charlie helped me move in here and I kinda want a change of scenery. I can afford to rent a place though, right?" I knew Esme would be brutally honest with me about it. Thank god.

"Yeah Bella, you can rent something. You have the monthly payments coming in from Charlie's retirement fund for the next 10 years or so, so you should rent something, especially if you feel uncomfortable where you are now," she explained eagerly. "What does Edward think about the move?"

"He was the one who suggested it."

"Really? Did he want to move in with you?" she asked, even more curious.

"I asked him to, but he said 'maybe'. So I asked Rosalie and Alice and they agreed. He had originally suggested they move with me. When I finally got around to telling him about it, he got pretty mad cause we had discussed moving in together, and I didn't give him the chance to say yes or no." I confessed despondently to her. She could tell I wasn't happy about the recent turn of events.

"Bella, you and Edward are not even remotely close to ready to move in together. You both still need time to figure out who you are separately, before you can decide who you are as a couple."

"When I told him, he took off for a drive, and I haven't heard from him. It was his idea Esme, why would he be so upset about it?" I quizzed her as I look down some of the reminders of Charlie that hung in my room, including my poster of Grant Park, which I shoved under my bed.

"He just wanted a chance to talk to you about it, I'm certain. He probably feels left out because you made the decision without him. Just discuss it with him Bella, I'm sure he'll come around." Esme was always so smart about everything. We continued talking for another half an hour, with her getting excited about the plans for Christmas. They were going to delay decorating the tree until Edward and I arrived because they wanted to do it together, something they hadn't done in almost 5 years. When Rosalie knocked on my door a little bit later, all ready to go look at an apartment, I thanked Esme again for her help and headed out the door with the girls.

Apartment hunting was hard work. We knew what neighborhoods we wanted to live in, but there were so few availabilities. Rosalie had some stipulations, like 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms. None of us were sharing a bedroom, not with our current sex lives. The first place we saw should have been marked 'condemned' on the door. They were asking way too much money for a place where the plumbing rattled when you turned it on. The floors were completely stained, and it smelt worse than Edwards did during the first week of school.

Apartment two was a definite contender, according to Alice. It was clean enough, had 3 bedrooms and each of the closets was huge. There was only one bathroom though, and since this had already been a bone of contention with us in our current living situation, we decided to skip it.

I was partial to the third apartment. It was about 2 blocks from the boys' apartment, but it was closer to the university than theirs. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and a really cute balcony. It was clean, which was one of the biggest selling points for me, as I remembered cleaning my dorm room thoroughly on the very first day I arrived.

"I like this one," I said to Rosalie, whose eyes were also lit with excitement.

"The closets are too small," said Alice in frustration.

"They are bigger than the dorm, Alice. Stop being difficult," snarled Rosalie as she looked through all the cupboards in the kitchen. The apartment manager left us alone for a few minutes after explaining the price, down payments and date of availability, which was January 1st.

"I think it's too expensive, even though I love it," said Alice. "I can only afford $450 a month, which is what we were paying at the dorm."

"What if I agreed to pay the balance?" I said a little surprised at my generosity.

"You'd be paying like $300 more a month than us Bella. Even if all the utilities are included, we can't ask you to pay $750 a month for an apartment," sighed Rosalie.

"I have all this fricking money that I am doing nothing with. I get over $2,000 a month from the retirement plan, so just let me use it. Once the house is sold, I will have even more money. I hate this money, so just let me use it for something good… please?" I was practically begging at this point. After a few more minutes of convincing them, the girls finally relented and we went downstairs to apply for the apartment. The manager said he would call us in a few days if everything went through all right.

When we left the building, the three of us were on cloud nine. Alice and Rosalie immediately called Jasper and Emmett to let them know, but I just kept walking back to the dorm. I would make no excited phone call to my boyfriend.

**Edward POV**

It was now almost 10 o'clock at night and I hadn't heard anything from Bella all day. When I got back to the apartment, after my long drive, Emmett and Jasper told me a bit about the apartment the girls had applied for. I couldn't help but wonder why Bella hadn't called me to tell me about it. Oh yeah right, because I had overreacted this morning when she mentioned it to me.

When we had originally discussed it, she asked me to move in with her, and I wanted to wait until after Christmas break before we discussed it seriously. I didn't know she wanted out of the dorms right away. I figured she was talking about the fall. We could live together in the fall. After being together for almost a year, not after being together for barely 3 months. I had even originally recommended she move in with Rosalie and Alice, so why the hell was I so upset with her?

She was keeping things from me. That was why I was upset with her. She didn't tell me they had agreed to move in together. She didn't tell me she wanted to move right away. She wasn't telling me things, and I couldn't understand why. My mind immediately wondered if she had told my mom these things. Perhaps because she now had a confident in my mom, she wouldn't be telling me certain things. I really hoped this wasn't the case… so I called my mom.

"Hi Edward, checking in for your usual Sunday call?" she asked with a laugh in her voice.

"How was the flight home? How's dad?"

"Everything is fine. I'm guessing that everything is not fine with you though, right?" She was always so perceptive. I remember when I first thought about having sex with my first real girlfriend back in high school and I came home to find a box of condoms on my dresser. It's like she had a sixth sense.

"How did you know?" I asked inquisitively.

"I just spoke to Bella." Of course she had. Just like I had anticipated, Bella had called her to talk, instead of being straightforward with me. "She told me about your reaction to her moving into her own place. As your mother, I don't think it's a good idea for you to move in with your girlfriend right now," she said with a bit of hesitation to her voice.

"When we discussed it mom, I thought it would be in the fall, not next month," I said honestly. I was so confused by all of this. Why did women have to be so confusing?

"You should talk to her about it Edward. She needs a change and this is a good one, so don't worry. Just talk to her when you get a minute." Esme offered a few more words of wisdom and reminded me about ordering the plane tickets for Bella and me for Christmas. I promised her that I would get it done within the week and I would discuss it with her on Sunday. Then she was gone and I was left to my thoughts again. Even Esme knew something and wasn't sharing it with me, although it wasn't really her place to share Bella's thoughts with me.

I tried to call Bella shortly after getting off the phone with my mom, but I just got her machine. I left a quick message and asked her to call me as soon as she could. That was almost 8 hours ago. I had an early class in the morning, so I decided not to stress too much about it and just try to get some sleep. We could discuss it tomorrow.

When I got out of my first class, I sent Bella a text to see if she was free for lunch. She wasn't. Bella told me she was so swamped with work that she would be in the library for most of the day. I texted again to ask if she got the apartment and all I got back was a 'yes'. I was beyond frustrated. I went to the music room to work on one of my music composition projects and did my best to not think about it.

I was driving back to the apartment at just after seven o'clock when Bella finally called me.

"Whatcha doin?" she asked sounding exhausted.

"I'm driving home Bella." I was not in the mood for games.

"Did you want to go get something for dinner?" she asked with a hopeful tone to her voice.

"I have a big project I need to work on. Can I take a rain check?"

"Sure." And she hung up on me. Great, now things were even worse. When I got home, I practically sprinted up to my room and stayed there all night, listening to music and regretting turning her down for dinner.

My classes on Tuesday seemed to be even more boring than usual. I got a text from Alice asking what the hell was wrong with me, but I ignored it. I was in the library later that afternoon, doing some research on Haydn, when Bella came in with a few friends from her class. I was really tempted to go and join them, but they sat with a group of guys and all seemed to be focusing on their work. I didn't want to interrupt them. I desperately wanted to go over to her and apologize for being a dick all week, but I couldn't do it. I was staring at her, when I saw her look up from her report quickly, looking in my direction. I couldn't take it anymore. I gathered up all my books and notes and walked over to her table.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked nervously as I stood beside her table, filled with about 6 other students.

"Guys, this is Edward. Edward, these are some of my classmates," said Bella casually as I nodded my head in acknowledgement. "Can we talk later? We're kind of in the middle of a big project and they are trying to help me get caught up from being out for so long." She was avoiding me. Any excuse to not talk to me about our argument. We had never gone this long without talking. We had never fought like this.

I tried with all my might to say something. To say 'No Bella, this is important. We are important.' But nothing came out of my mouth. I must have looked like a complete idiot to these people, so I just walked away, feeling absolutely fucking crushed.

**A/N: I am not breaking them up, and yes, she will go home with him for Christmas. Patience my dear readers! **


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for their wonderful reviews. Some mentioned it seemed a bit silly for them to fight over something so trivial, but that's real life. People fight over stupid crap all the time and in this story, there is a purpose, I promise. In my opinion, it sure beats the ol' Edward cheats on Bella or vice versa scenario. Thanks again for reading! Please review! **

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

I didn't see or talk to Bella again until Friday. It had been five excruciatingly long days. I was going to go see her on Wednesday night until Jasper told me that Alice and Rose had gone to the movies with her. That had made me so frustrated because Bella could ditch her work for her friends but not me. So when I came home from school on Friday, I was pretty shocked to see Bella standing in the kitchen with Jasper doing shots.

"Dude, you gonna join us?" asked Jasper as he poured me a drink and slid it down the countertop of the island towards me.

"Maybe later," I said as I headed upstairs to my room, completely ignoring the fact Bella was standing a mere five feet from me. Twenty minutes later, I was cleaning my room, when Bella finally appeared at my door. She didn't' come in. She just stood with her back propped up against the door frame and watched me pick up some of my laundry from the floor.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked sounding a bit defensive.

"Depends, are you going to ignore me?" I spat back, a little harsher than I had intended. Bella stared at me with narrowed eyes and turned to leave. "Don't go," I pleaded. "We'll never get this fixed if we don't talk." She stopped and turned back into the room to look at me.

"Are we going to talk or hurl spiteful insults at each other?"

"Talk," I said, although I wasn't one hundred percent certain that an insult wouldn't fly out in a fit of rage. "I'm sorry I over-reacted to the apartment thing," I said honestly as she finally walked into the room and came to sit down on my bed. Even as I apologized, all I wanted to do was push her back onto the bed and make love to her, hoping and praying that everything would go back to normal.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you on Saturday night when we agreed on it. You shouldn't have been blindsided like you were."

"So, when do you guys move in?" I asked, trying to sound more interested than hurt.

"The day before Christmas break ends, which I think is the 3rd or something. Alice is taking care of the details since I have been busy with classes." She started running her hands through her hair, and I wished they were my hands.

"Are you all caught up?" I was praying that she was and that we could spend more time together. I missed every little thing about her this past week.

"Almost. I have one more project due, but the deadline was extended to Wednesday. Edward, I'm sorry we didn't have any time together this past week. It killed me to be away from you." Finally, an honest emotion. I pulled her closer to me and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the forehead. "What are you doing tonight?"

"You?" I asked hopefully.

"Not bloody likely Cullen," she said attempting to sound funny. "We're all going to some house party for some friend of Emmett's. Are you gonna come? It's only like 2 blocks from here." The last thing I wanted to do was go to a party, but I also didn't want her to go without me.

"Is there any way I can convince you to stay?" I asked as I moved her long hair off of her shoulders, to gently kiss her neck.

"Are you trying to distract me Edward?"

"Is it working?"

"I really want to go to this party, I need the stress relief." She was being extraordinarily stubborn about this damned party. I showered her with more kisses across her ears, neck and collarbone.

"I know of another way to reduce stress," I whispered sexily in her ear.

"I'm going to the party Edward," she said forcefully as she pulled away from me. "You can come or not, whatever you want." Bella stalked out of the room and I just sat there feeling like an asshole, but I still didn't want to go to the party.

A little while later, Jasper showed up at my door inquiring if I was going to go with them. I shrugged my shoulders in uncertainty.

"Dude, why don't you come? You could use a night to relax and just forget all of this shit." Of course Jasper was right. I told him that I would have a quick shower and meet them there in a bit. He handed me the almost full beer in his hand and waved as he headed out of the room.

An hour, 2 beers and 3 shots later, I was heading down the street to the address Emmett had left for me on the counter. It was just past 10 as I walked into the house, loud rock music filled my ears, almost painfully. I scanned the room and found Alice and Emmett chatting in the corner, so I went to join them and quickly helped myself to Emmett's drink.

"Fuck Edward, I was drinking that," he yelled at me angrily.

"Yeah, you were," I said sarcastically, as I took a long drink. "Where is everyone else?" I asked, even though I only really meant Bella. Emmett headed into the kitchen for another drink as Alice filled me in.

"Jasper went outside to smoke up with some friends of his from class. Rosalie said she had to go pee, but I think she's puking cause she has been gone way too long for a pee break, and Bella was right here with us a minute ago. I don't know where she went to." Great, now I was freaked out. I excused myself from Alice and made my way around the house looking for Bella. About 10 minutes later, I found her in a bedroom playing a drinking game with a bunch of people I didn't recognize. She was beyond drunk because she kept slurring her words and needed to be reminded the rules of the game. I was officially done drinking.

I watched for a few more minutes from the doorway. Her back was to the door, so she had no idea I was standing there. To everyone else in the room, I was just a curious partygoer. I was trying to think of a way to get Bella out of the party, without her yelling at me. When I focused my attention on her again, I noticed the guy next to her leaned over to whisper something in her ear and put his hand on her thigh. She quickly pulled away, but I had had enough.

"Come on Bella, we're leaving," I said as I walked over to her and grabbed her hand to pull her up from her seated position on the floor.

"When did you get here Edward?" she asked with a small drunken smile.

"Just a few minutes ago," I said as she finally stood beside me and wobbled a bit. As we turned to leave, I felt a strong hand grab my arm.

"Listen pal. She was having a good time, she probably wants to stay" said the jerk who had grabbed her thigh. I pulled his hand off of me quickly and glared at him.

"Don't fucking touch me or her ever again," I yelled at him as Jasper and Emmett suddenly flanked my sides. "She's mine." I growled. When I turned to walk away, I heard the guy mutter "fucking slut" and that was it. I immediately let go of Bella's hand and turned back around to him. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and punched him right in the nose. Em and Jazz struggled to pull me back from the random asshole.

The next thing I knew, we were all standing outside the party and Bella was trying to calm me down. "I'm sorry Edward," she whispered to me as she hugged me tentatively. "Let's go home?" I nodded my head and wrapped my arm tightly around her waist, and we walked down the wet street back to my apartment.

**Bella POV**

I was so wasted. My mind kept telling me to stop drinking, but my hands kept putting alcohol down my throat. I was feeling rough even before we left to go to the party. After all my recent arguments with Edward, all I wanted to do was drink, to forget. I hadn't even realized he had come to the party until he tried to get me to leave after that creep James put his hand on my thigh. _Oh my god, Edward must have seen that_. Before I could even think straight, Edward was punching him in the face and then we were outside on the wet streets trying to calm him down.

This had been more stressful an evening that I had originally imagined. I suggested we head back to Edwards and thankfully he agreed. So we walked the few blocks back to his place through the wet streets. It was unseasonably warm for early December, but it was nice. We walked hand in hand through the dark night, and I realized how much I missed just walking with him and having him close to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked nervously as we entered his building and stepped into the elevator.

"Yeah, very buzzed, but the fresh air did me good, I hope. I doubt you'll need to hold my hair while I puke in the bathroom tonight, so that's a good sign," I chuckled to myself.

"I'd do it for you, Bella," said Edward, looking even more serious than he had when he had punched James in the face. We walked into his apartment and he quickly fetched us each a glass of water._ Ah water, you are my best friend_, I thought as I greedily drank down the entire glass and handed it back to him for a refill.

"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked as I grabbed my second glass and started up the stairs towards his bedroom.

"Can we just lie in bed and listen to some music?" he asked sweetly. "I just want to spend time with you. No drama." I nodded my head and the moment we got into his bedroom, I put my glass down on the nightstand and immediately changed into a pair of boxers and a t-shirt that I fished out of his dresser. I was reminded of the first time I had slept over, my birthday, when Alice had only allowed me to bring a t-shirt to sleep in, so I grabbed a pair of his boxers. I proudly recalled that I still had that pair in my drawers somewhere. Edward sat down on the bed and reached over for his laptop and immediately got on the internet.

"What are you doing?" I said as I lay down beside him on my stomach, casually kicking my feet in the air.

"I promised my mom I would order our plane tickets this weekend; I don't want to forget it. You are still coming home with me for Christmas right?" he asked nervously. I nodded my head happily and checked out flights with him. He finished class a day earlier than I did, but luckily, my class ended early the next day, so we agreed on the first flight available after my last class.

"I can pack the night before, and you can bring it with you when you come pick me up at school, and we can go straight from class," I suggested with a bit of excitement. I really was eager to go back home with him for Christmas. I had missed Esme and Carlisle, and it had only been a week. Once he was done booking our tickets, he emailed the confirmation to his mom so that she knew it was done. He put the laptop back on his desk and we lay down peacefully in each other's arms.

He played happily with my hair, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel the need to fall asleep. I didn't sleep because I couldn't. It felt good, perfect even, wrapped up in Edwards's arms. I didn't want to sleep because I didn't want to go back to the stupid arguments I was having with him before right now.

"Penny for your thoughts," he said sweetly as he kissed my forehead affectionately.

"I was just thinking about Christmas," I lied."Your mom said she was going to wait until we got there to decorate the tree. It sounds like a lot of fun."

"Bella, my mom is an interior designer, so our tree has to be perfect. She'll probably have blueprints outlining where each individual ornament or strand of garland goes. It's all a bit crazy really," he admitted as he pulled me closer to him. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too. I'm sorry about this, again. It was all my fault and there was really no good reason for any of it." I could feel the tears starting to form and I tried with all my might not to cry.

"You can cry if you need to. I forgive you, it was our first fight. I'm sure there will be plenty more. Possibly even worse than this one, although I hope not."

"I don't want to cry Edward," I snapped at him. "I've cried more in the past three weeks than I did the rest of my life," I added, sounding annoyed with him. He just nodded in understanding and changed the topic.

A few hours later, as Edward slept soundly beside me, I heard Emmett and Jasper come home from the party. I assumed that Rose and Alice had decided to sleep at the dorm tonight. They made a little noise, which just made it more difficult to sleep. When I did sleep, it was very restless, with vivid nightmares, although I would never mention them to Edward. He worries enough about me already. Before I knew it, the sun was beginning to rise and I was rather eager to get out of the apartment. Even though I only had, maybe 3 hours sleep, I woke Edward up.

"Babe, wake up," I said as I nudged him gently. He stirred a little bit until he finally rubbed his eyes and looked at me a little shocked.

"What time is it Bella?"

"Seven in the morning"

"What the fuck are you doing up at seven? Let's go back to sleep," he said as he pulled me closer to him again, wanting to cuddle.

"I'm awake now. I want to go do something. Let's go ride a ferry somewhere, but not Canada. I don't have my passport on me, or we can go Christmas shopping, or out for a nice breakfast?" He just shook his head and looked at me in disbelief.

"Did you drink an entire case of Red Bull this morning?" he asked, noticing my rather excitable behavior. It usually got this way when I didn't sleep. I would probably have to take a nap this afternoon to get through the rest of the day. "Bella, it's early. Seattle will still be waiting for us in a few hours."

Edward fell back to sleep after that, and I decided to busy myself around the apartment. I showered, did a load of laundry for Edward, checked my e-mails and my Facebook page. Now it was 8am and I was still bored and restless. I wandered down to the kitchen and started fixing a breakfast with almost everything they had in the fridge. I made omelets, hash browns, bacon, coffee, toast… and finally there was some action in the apartment, but it was Jasper.

"Smells good Bella. To what do we owe the pleasure?" he said as he wandered into the kitchen and sat down at one of the new stools they got for the island. I pushed a plate, filled with food, at him and just smiled.

"I just felt like cooking this morning. If you guys had more food in this place, I probably would have made some cookies, banana bread, basically anything you had ingredients for," I said trying to sound casual and fully rested.

"Are you okay Bella?" he asked inquisitively.

"Yeah. I'm good. I was just wide awake and felt like doing something nice." Suddenly Emmett stuck his head out of his door.

"Mmmm… bacon." He exclaimed excitedly as he sat down beside Jasper. "Where's Edward?"

"Still asleep." Jasper and Emmett both smirked at each other and went upstairs to wake him up. I have no idea what they did, but Edward screamed loudly and eventually came downstairs in frustration. I handed him a plate and just smiled.

"Thanks Bella," he said with a small smile. I just nodded my head and started the dishes, having already eaten while they were still asleep. "You two had better look out next time you are sleeping. I will get you back," threatened Edward as Jasper and Emmett enjoyed their breakfast with a big smile on their face.

The rest of the weekend went very slow. Edward and I ended up going shopping for Christmas gifts together. I would casually drop hints about things I liked, and he pretended he was checking his messages, when I really knew he was texting himself the hints for future use. He admitted that he wasn't sure what he wanted, but he was a great help at picking out stuff that Esme would enjoy. When he dropped me off at the apartment around 4, he promised to be back after dinner to watch a movie and sleep over. I was fine with that. Too bad, I didn't sleep much on Saturday night either. Luckily, Edward didn't seem to notice it. He had to run out early Sunday morning because there was a group project he needed to work on with his classmates and they were meeting at the music hall at 10. While he was gone, I worked on my own laundry and some of the reading I had to get done for my women's lit class.

"Bella, are you alright?" were the next words I heard a few hours later, as Alice hovered over me, trying to wake me.

"I'm fine Alice," I lied.

"You were screaming in your sleep Bella. I don't think that's okay," exclaimed Alice as a look of concern spread across her face. "Have you talked to someone about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about. I had a bad dream. It's not like I get them every day," I lied again. She just nodded her head and smiled cautiously at me, relieved that I had told it wasn't a common occurrence. The screaming was definitely new to me, too bad the nightmares weren't.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: lysvia – I'm currently a work at home mom, so I keep a notebook handy while playing with my daughter and type while she's napping or it's nighttime. That's how I get my chapters out quickly. Oh and writing 65 wpm helps too! Enjoy the in-laws! They can't be any worse than mine! LOL**

**This is my pre-Christmas Eve chapter, enjoy!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

Before Christmas break, Bella and I made a conscious effort to see each other every day. Sometimes we'd have lunch or go to the library to do our individual work. She slept at my place twice, until the night before our flight to Chicago. I finished classes on Wednesday afternoon but Bella had one more class early Thursday morning and our flight left at 2 in the afternoon. The plan was that we would stay together at Bella's on Wednesday night and we would head to class. I would pick her up outside her building, with all of our luggage and make our way over the Sea-Tac airport.

I was actually really looking forward to spending more alone time with her. All of her projects were done, she just had to get to a lecture on Thursday morning and get the grade on her latest report and then we'd be heading back home. My mother was beyond excited for the visit; I think she may have even called Bella three times on Wednesday to confirm information with her. I was happy because it was the first time in ages I had spent at Bella's place.

"Hey babe," she said when I showed up at the suite just before 5 on Wednesday. I tossed my luggage on the couch and swept her up into a huge hug, eager to be done with school for a while. "Nice to see you too." Emmett and Rosalie had gone back this morning on the same flight as Alice and Jasper because their classes were already done. The apartment felt different than the last time I had visited. There were moving boxes everywhere, and no decorations. It actually reminded me of the first time I met Bella on moving day in September.

"What's for dinner?" I asked after I put her down, smacked her gently on the ass and started to check out some of the covered pots on the stove.

"Nothing exciting, garlic baked chicken and roasted veggies." Bella was always so modest about her cooking, but it was excellent. Jasper and Emmett were always trying to convince me to have her stay over more often so that she could cook them breakfast. It didn't happen.

"I picked up a movie from Blockbuster, 'The Ref', its Christmas, its comedy, it's Denis Leary, what's not to like?" I said excitedly.

"Sounds good," said Bella as she kept her head down, working on dinner. I dragged my luggage into her bedroom and pulled out the clothes I would be wearing tomorrow; really hoping I wouldn't need any for tonight. When I came back out, she was setting the cutlery on the table and I noticed she looked kinda tired.

"You okay? You look a little tired." I asked nervously. I really hoped she wasn't getting sick. Her Christmas would really suck if she was laid up in bed with a cold or something.

"Yeah, I was just up late the last few nights working on a project. I'll catch up on some sleep on the flight, and in your big bed back in Chicago." I decided this was a decent enough answer, and decided not to worry too much about it. Dinner was excellent, as usual. I helped her wash the dishes and as soon as I had them dried she packed them away in a box on the countertop. "I think that's the last of it," she said happily once we had taped the box shut and put it in the living room with everything else.

We got comfortable on the couch and watched our movie in relative silence the entire time, which was a big feat for Bella because she often liked to talk during movies. It's probably why we have yet to go to a movie theatre on a date, everyone there would hate her. She laughed easily at some of the jokes, but was very quiet. I still wondered if she was feeling okay, so at one point, I casually lifted my hand to her forehead to see if she was running a fever.

"What was that for?" she asked, lifting her head up from my chest with a slightly angry look.

"I was just worried. You always talk during movies. I was completely prepared for you to talk the entire time during this movie, but there was nothing. I just wanted to see if you were feeling alright," I said, feeling a bit regretful about my actions.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's a funny movie."

A little while later, she actually fell asleep on the couch with her head on my chest. I carried her off to her bedroom and pulled off her slippers before sliding her into bed and pulling up the covers. I stepped into the nearby bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for bed, when I heard the loudest, most god awful scream come from her room. I rushed in there and she was sitting up, with her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" I yelled in fear. Bella just nodded her head. I sat down beside her and pulled her head to my chest, tenderly running my fingers through her hair and along her back in a soothing motion. "Did you have a nightmare or something?" I felt her nod her head against me.

"It's okay Bella. I'm here." I quickly got undressed for bed and climbed in beside her, holding her tightly to me and running my hands through her hair and across her back. This generally made her fall asleep, and sure enough, after almost an hour, she fell back asleep. At this point, I couldn't sleep. I lay in bed beside her and watched her, not wanting to relive the scream I heard only an hour ago. Anything I could do to reassure her and take care of her, I was going to do.

The next morning, Bella was out of the apartment before I even woke up. I managed to fall asleep around 5 in the morning and her class started at 8. She left me a quick note letting me know what time, and where to pick her up. I had approximately an hour to shower, eat something, return our movie to the video store and meet her at her classroom. Bella wandered out of the building about 5 minutes after I arrived and I honked the horn to get her attention. She hesitantly climbed into the passenger seat and threw her book bag on the backseat.

"How was class?" I asked curiously as I drove away from the campus, eager to get to the airport.

"Eh, it was alright. Half of the class wasn't even there. He should have just postponed it until January," said Bella, clearly upset about everything.

"Did you get your grade on that project you finished two weeks ago?" She simply nodded her head. "and… another A I'm guessing? You know you really are too smart for your own good."

"Not quite. I got a C," she said dejectedly. I was actually a little shocked. I didn't know Bella knew was a C was.

"It's okay. Don't let it ruin Christmas, okay?" I said sweetly as I took her hand in mine. She nodded again in agreement and she smiled happily as we got onto the highway, off towards the airport.

When we finally touched down in Chicago, Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us. Mom and Bella hugged tenderly for a few moments as my dad loaded our luggage in the trunk of his Mercedes.

"How was the flight?" asked Esme, once we were on the road, away from the airport.

"It was alright. The in flight movie sucked, so we just listened to music. Bella tried to take a nap, but had no luck," I mentioned. My mom shot me a weird glance, and I just ignored it. My mom continued the conversation for the entire ride back to their brownstone. We heard about the huge tree she was having delivered tomorrow, and the party she was planning for Christmas Eve with our friends, who had all politely agreed to come. She talked Bella into going shopping with her on Saturday, but Bella didn't seem overly interested. We had picked up a few gifts back in Seattle, but I know she had more she wanted to get. I still hadn't decided on the perfect gift for her. But today was Friday and Christmas was a few days away still.

When we got home, it was almost 8 Chicago time. We had a quick snack and decided headed right to bed, exhausted from the flight. Bella, of course, was supposed to be staying in the guest room next to my bedroom, but everyone within a 10 mile radius knew she would be asleep in my arms within half an hour. We went separately into our rooms to unpack and get changed for bed. It seemed like it was taking her forever to come into my room, so I went to check on her. When I knocked on the door, there was no answer, so I quickly peeked inside and found her fast asleep on the bed. I pulled the covers over her and decided to head downstairs to catch up with my parents.

"Where's Bella?" asked my mom the moment I stepped into the kitchen. She was baking cookies, and they smelled delicious. I grabbed one quickly from the baking sheet before she had a chance to swat my hand away.

"She passed out in the guest room. She hasn't been sleeping well lately, so I thought I would let her get some rest. What's going on here these days?" I asked curiously as I hopped up onto the counter and watched her shove another batch of cookies in the oven.

"Nothing too special. We have a Christmas party to go to for the hospital on Saturday night, so you will have to fend for yourself for dinner," she explained sweetly. I just shrugged my shoulders indifferently, but was actually thinking of planning a nice date for Bella and I. "How long has Bella had sleeping problems?"

"I dunno, I guess since we got back from Forks. She's been so busy catching up with her schoolwork; it's been keeping her up late. The downfall is that now, her grades are slipping a bit. She got a C on a project and I don't think she has ever gotten lower than a B+ in her life," I mentioned casually, not really noticing my mother's peculiar reaction.

"Has anything weird happened?"

"Define weird?" I said, a little surprised by her question.

"You know, weird. Has Bella been acting differently, doing anything out of the normal?" Esme definitely seemed concerned.

"No, not really. She had a nightmare last night and woke up screaming, but she had gone to a horror movie with Alice and Rose a few days before that. Why all the questions?" Now I was getting worried.

"It's nothing. Want another cookie?" she asked as she held the tray out for me and I eagerly took two more snickerdoodles. We talked a little bit more about the holidays and gift ideas that my mom had for Bella. When I noticed it was almost 9:30, I grabbed a quick glass of milk, gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed up stairs to check on Bella before going to bed myself. When I opened the door to the guest room, she wasn't in the bed anymore.

"Bella?" I called out tentatively. I could faintly hear water running in the bathroom, so I knocked lightly on the bathroom door. "Are you okay Bella?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, her voice sounding a little cracked. "I'm just brushing my teeth. I'll be in your room in a few minutes."

When she wandered into my room less than five minutes later, her face and eyes were red. She looked like she had been crying. "Bella, why the fuck are you lying to me. You are clearly not okay." I said as I pulled her to me in a big bear hug. I wanted so much to make whatever was hurting her go away.

**Bella POV**

"I just had another little nightmare, it's nothing Edward," I said as I hopped up onto Edwards's bed and covered myself with his blankets.

"Has this been happening often Bella?" he asked, clearly upset with me for not being honest with him earlier.

"No," I lied again. Why the hell was I lying to him? "Yes," I admitted. "Yes, it happens a couple of nights a week. It's one of the reasons I haven't wanted you to stay over at my suite." I felt a little better to get that off my chest, but the look of concern on his face diminished how I had felt.

"Bella, how long have they been happening?"

"What are you, my psychiatrist?" I snapped at him, immediately regretting it.

"I only want to help you. I love you Bella, and if something hurts you, it hurts me. I don't like seeing you upset in any way." He sat down beside me on the bed, and I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely.

"I think it's just a side effect of my lack of sleep. Now that we are back here for almost 2 weeks, I will have plenty of time to catch up on my sleep." I said trying to sound as confident as possible, but not really sure if the lack of sleep was causing the nightmares. He lay down beside me and rubbed my back until I fell asleep. For the first time in almost a month, it was a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, I woke to the sounds of Esme yelling at someone on the main floor. I reached over and felt Edward beside me, so I knew it wasn't him getting in trouble. The moment I heard the words "Douglas Fir", I figured the Christmas tree was finally here. I thought of waking Edward, but he looked so peaceful, I let him sleep and tossed on some casual clothes to join Esme in the living room.

"Good Morning Bella," she exclaimed happily as she saw me descending the stairs. "I hope my yelling and the sheer incompetence of these men didn't wake you up."

"No Esme, I was already awake." There I go lying again. I headed to the kitchen and fetched myself a coffee while I listened carefully as she instructed the men on where to put the tree. When everything was said and done, the tree had to be at least 9 feet tall. "You do have some sort of ladder for our decorating mission later today right?" I asked curiously. I had never decorated a tree this big. In fact, I had never decorated a real tree before. This was going to be a new adventure.

"Oh, of course Bella. This isn't a new thing for me," she said as she finally approved the location of the tree and sighed contentedly. I helped Esme pull out some of the boxes with decorations from the garage while we chatted happily about her plans for the tree.

"So, have you gotten a gift for Edward yet?" she asked genuinely after we brought the last box into the living room. Esme had 13 boxes of Christmas decorations. It was going to be a long day.

"No, I can't decide what to get him. He's very hard to shop for. Any suggestions?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me," she laughed. I told her I would try to get some ideas from him, and even talk to Emmett and Jasper if I needed to.

"Thanks Bella. He's been a royal pain in the ass to shop for ever since he turned 15. I'm getting tired of buying him clothes that he exchanges a few days later." I smiled happily at her and we started unloading some of the boxes. It was only a few minutes later when Edward wandered down the stairs. He came directly over to me and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me gently on the head.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes Edward. No dreams or nightmares this time," I sighed into his chest. He rubbed my hair gently before pulling away and wandering into the kitchen for a coffee.

The three of us spent the rest of the morning decorating the tree to the best of our abilities. I would often catch Esme rearranging some of the ornaments we put on the tree, but I ignored it. It was just the perfectionist nature of her, I figured. Edward got the lovely task of being on the ladder and putting on the high decorations. Esme stood below him, handing him each ornament and advising him which branch to put each one on. I felt so sorry for him to have lived through 18 years of this. He just rolled his eyes and smiled at me. It was almost noon when Esme finally gave us a reprieve.

"Want to go grab some lunch? It's unseasonably warm for December, so we can take a little walk or something?" suggested Edward sweetly as we walked back upstairs to his room. We each took a quick shower and were out the door before 1. It was so nice to be out in the cool air, holding hands with Edward, and I was doing my best to relax.

"So, what do you want for Christmas?" I asked as I nudged him gently in the ribs. "No one has any idea what to get you."

"I have you, that's all I need," he said sweetly as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close to him.

"That's sweet, but I can't wrap that up and give it to you as a gift," I said in frustration.

"Well actually Bella, you could. Just buy a big bow and show up in my bed on Christmas Eve. Best. Present. Ever." He said excitedly. I said nothing, but did think that it might be a good idea. I may need to buy some sort of slutty lingerie for it though. I should make a shopping appointment with Alice for that one. I smiled at him and we kept walking.

"Okay, but your mom can't buy me for you. So what would you like your mom to get you?"

"Oh, so my mom has you doing some research on me because she admitted she gets me crappy gifts huh?" I nodded my head humbly. "Okay, I wouldn't mind a digital camera; I'm tired of using my damned cell phone for that shit. I guess I could use some more composing paper, some money, a GPS for my car… is that enough?"

"Yeah, you greedy bastard. That'll do." I said, mentally trying to remember everything so I could share it with Esme later.

"Oh, and I need new boxer shorts. My damned girlfriend keeps stealing them."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews. Sorry I didn't get a chance to go into the shopping trip between Bella and Esme. I wasn't really planning to have anything major happen there, but just wait, the sh!t will hit the fan so enough ******** Enjoy the Christmas Eve Lemons!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

"Oh don't be ridiculous Bella, just go try this on," said Alice as she handed me some hideous looking lingerie type thing. I wasn't even sure what the hell it was. I just looked at her in anger and walked into the change room. It took me almost five minutes to figure out how to get it on. This outfit definitely required instructions, so there was no way I was buying it. Edward would get frustrated just thinking about how to take it off. _I was not buying this catastrophe._

As I was about to step out of the changing room, Rosalie tossed two pieces over the door to me. "Try these on Bella." This was more what I had in mind, thank god for Rosalie. I wanted something sexy. Not confusing. The first option I tried on was a simple red sheer baby doll. _Very festive_, I thought to myself as I looked in the mirror. I tried on the second outfit, which was mainly a bra, panty and garter set in black, but it was also very cute. Since the girls had dragged me into Victoria's Secret instead of La Perla, I could actually afford to get both of them. Shopping done.

"Ok, come on, let's go get the rest of our shopping finished," said Alice as we wandered from the store after I made my purchases.

"What shopping?" I asked incredulously. "I thought this was a lingerie mission. Where else do we have to go?"

"Bella, Rose and I need to finish our Christmas shopping. You can't tell me that you are already done."

"Well yeah," I said as I lifted my bag up in the air to remind them of my purchases. They both just laughed at me as we kept walking down the street. This morning, I was beyond tired when we finally left the Cullen's house. Sleep had continued to escape me the past few nights, but I was doing my best to catch up on it when I could. On Saturday, I went out shopping _very_ early in the morning with Esme and she finished all of her shopping. I picked up a few more small gifts for her and Carlisle, and a CD for Edward, but that was the extent of it. Edward's parents had a Christmas party for the hospital Carlisle worked at, so we had the place all to ourselves. He insisted on making dinner, so I just sat on the countertop and watched him make some spaghetti and meatballs, it was actually pretty good and he didn't use Prego, so I was impressed.

We spent the rest of the night cuddling in his room watching "It's a Wonderful Life." I fell asleep during the movie. Once it was done, I was awake though. At least when I was asleep, it was dreamless. I could tell Edward was getting a bit worried about me because he kept glancing it me strange sometimes during the day. I would sometimes just shrug my shoulders or mouth to him to 'leave it alone'. He was complying so far, but I felt like it would be soon that we had another argument on the topic.

"Earth to Bella," said Rosalie as we pulled up in front of a sex shop a few blocks from our previous store. My mouth dropped open and I shook my head, I was not going in this store.

"Oh Bella, grow up, really," snarled Alice. "We aren't going in. We had asked you a question as we were walking by and you said nothing. Are you paying attention?"

"Sorry, distracted for a moment," I said quietly.

"Ok, well our question was what did you get Edward for Christmas? There must be something other than lingerie," she asked again.

"No, that was all he wanted," I sighed as we continued walking, finally stepping away from the sex shop.

"There must be something else you can get him. You should find something meaningful, after all, you are in love with the guy," said Rosalie proudly.

"He doesn't want anything else." I was starting to get frustrated, but also concerned that I hadn't gotten Edward enough for Christmas.

"What did you get Emmett?" I asked of Rosalie politely.

"Well, I got him a subscription to Maxim, he loves that shit. I got him a few new sweaters, including a really nice UW hoodie that he had his eye on since September. Oh, and I got him a 2 night stay at some hotel in downtown Seattle for us. Privacy is always a good thing." She winked as we wandered into Bed, Bath and Beyond, so that she could pick up something nice for Emmett's mom.

I was clueless as to what to get Edward. Something that was meaningful, yet not cheesy. What the hell would he like? It had been almost 4 months since we met and I couldn't figure out a gift to get him other than a CD or sex. What the hell was wrong with me? _You know him better than this Bella_, I chastised myself. He didn't wear jewelry, so that was out of the question. Anything he ever wanted, he simply bought himself. I spent the rest of our shopping trip trying to figure out what else I could get Edward, when I thought a mix CD might be a nice gesture. I had loved it when he made me one for my birthday, so it might work. Maybe instead of the CD, I could put it as a playlist in his iPod. I was going to have to think about this more later.

When Rosalie dropped me off at the Cullen house, everyone was already home. I ran upstairs quickly to the guest room and put my purchases in the closet, so that Edward didn't seem them and immediately want his 'gifts'.

"How was shopping?" asked Carlisle when I walked into the kitchen.

"It was relaxing actually, although Alice sure does know how to shop. My feet are a bit tired, and I might end up taking a bath later." He just smiled and nodded as Edward walked into the room. He put his arms around my waist gently and put his chin on my shoulder.

"Welcome back," he whispered happily as he kissed my neck. "Only two more days till Christmas, are you all ready?"

"Don't you want to know," I said as I gently elbowed him in the ribs. "Do you need any help with dinner, Esme? " I knew she would decline, she always did, but it was just in my nature to be polite. I helped Edward set the table for dinner, and the rest of our night ended up being fairly boring. It was almost 10 when we finally climbed the stairs up to the third floor. I was about to go into the guest bedroom to get changed when Edward followed me in. Usually he went to his own room to change.

"So," he said as he grabbed my waist and backed me up against the wall. "How was shopping?" Edward leaned down and covered my neck with several small kisses before pulling back up to hear my answer.

"It was fine, I got some good stuff, but my feet hurt. Would you mind if I had a bath?" I had been dying to get my sore feet into a nice hot bath since we got home and I mentioned it to Carlisle. Edward grabbed my hand and led me into the bathroom, which joined our two rooms. He turned on the hot water in the huge bathtub and disappeared for a few moments. When he came back he had a big stack of big fluffy towels and a bottle of some sort. Bubble bath, I assumed.

"Ok, you want a bath, I will give you a bath, but I am joining you," he smiled eagerly. I just shook my head and watched as he prepared us a hot bubble bath. It smelled like almonds, and it was heavenly. "I stole this from Esme's bathroom so we can't use too much." _Bummer._ I might need to get my own bottle of this awesome bubble bath.

"Get in," said Edward once the tub was almost completely filled. Suddenly, I felt self conscious. "It's not like I haven't seen it before Bella. In fact, I've licked like 90 percent of it, so just get naked and get in." A few minutes later, he was in the tub with me. My back to his chest and he immediately started rubbing my shoulders.

"I couldn't afford you a gift, so I'm getting you a bubble bath," he laughed gently as he kissed behind my ear, continuing to massage my shoulders.

"Nice try Cullen, although you could get me some of this bubble bath for future use," I laughed. The rest of the bath was actually enjoyable. Edward, of course, couldn't keep his hands to himself at all. When he wasn't rubbing my shoulders or arms, he was busying himself with my breasts or clit. Not that I was complaining, well okay I was. "Stop being a tease," I said to him slightly frustrated.

"I'm not teasing anything Bella," he whispered to me, as his hand slipped back between my legs.

"Not teasing? Then what are you doing right now?" I asked, panting slightly from his touch.

"It would be teasing if I wasn't touching you, but I am clearly touching you, aren't I Bella?" He was starting to confuse me. Perhaps it was because I was completely focused on the actions of his fingers and not his words.

"What did you say?" I asked through strained breaths. The speed of his fingers picked up and before I knew it, he had two fingers deep inside me and I was squirming in pleasure beneath him.

"I tried to explain to you that it's not teasing Bella because I am touching you," he whispered huskily into my ear as he gently picked up my calves and put my feet on the edge of the tub, so he had more room to move his hands. I just nodded my head in response to his words. I had no idea what the hell he was saying.

A few moments later, I was biting my bottom lip to keep from screaming as he continued his motions on me. His arms were wrapped tightly around me as one of his hands rubbed my nipple and the other expertly encircled my clit. I gripped the edge of the oversized tub with both hands, as I moaned in pleasure.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked again. I ignored him because at this point he sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown, I couldn't understand it at all. I could however understand the feeling coursing through my body as I climaxed in pleasure, moaning his name louder than I intended. My back arched and I threw my head against his shoulder, as Edward bent forward and kissed my cheek. It took me a few more moments to calm down, and I think the fact that the bath water was getting colder helped to snap me from my orgasm induced revelry.

"Let's go to bed," he said as he stood from the bath and grabbed my hand to help me up. He wrapped a big towel around me and gave me a quick kiss to the lips. We split for a moment as I ran to the guest room and quickly slid my clothes on, eager to be back in his arms. When I walked back into his room, he was already lying in bed, waiting for me. I crawled up next to him and put my head down on his soft and warm chest.

"I love you," I said quietly as he hands went straight to my head and began playing with my hair, lulling me into a gentle and dreamless sleep.

**Edward POV**

Ah, it was finally Christmas Eve day and I had to make a quick run to the store to pick up my final gift for Bella. I had seen it at a jewelry store on Michigan Avenue a few days ago, but they had to order it for me. I wasn't sure if I should trust that it would be in before Christmas, but luckily the jeweler came through. He was a close friend of my dad's, so I'm sure that helped a bit too. It was a really nice white gold necklace featuring a heart-lock and key charms, with little diamonds on the charms. Sure Carlisle would probably yell at me for spending so much money, but Esme would be supportive, so I didn't stress about it. I was worried how Bella would react to it though. Lately, it always seemed to drive her nuts when I spent even twenty dollars on her. She would have to suck it up. People can't reject Christmas gifts. It's sacrilegious or something.

It was almost six when Rosalie and Emmett arrived for the little party my parents were having. My mom had spent the afternoon cooking, and had even let Bella help her out for a bit, before she shooed her from the room and forced her to get dressed. Alice had been over earlier in the morning, and helped Bella pick out something nice to wear, and when she finally came downstairs as Rosalie arrived, she looked really beautiful. Her hair was pulled up at the sides and gathered loosely on her head. Her long hair flowed behind her in a ton of curls and I just wanted to go wrap my hands in them, but I didn't want her to get mad at me for ruining her luscious hair. She had dressed in a light blue, sleeveless cocktail dress, which accentuated every single little curve of her body. She looked like an angel.

When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I quickly went over to her and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her furiously. I had completely ignored my friends that had arrived, until Emmett cleared his throat.

"What?" I snapped at Emmett, frustrated to be separated from Bella's lips.

"Dude, it's early. Calm down," said Emmett as he grabbed Rosalie's hand and led her into the living room where my parents were waiting.

"You look really handsome," said Bella as she ran her hand down my chest gently. My mom had forced me into some black pants and a dark blue button down shirt. I drew the line at a tie. I couldn't picture ties anymore unless they were wrapped around Bella's neck and draped down between her naked breasts. It was going to be a long night.

"Thanks babe," I said casually as I guided her into the living room to join everyone else. Alice and Jasper arrived a little bit later and the evening's festivities began. Luckily, it was very casual. Unfortunately, there was no booze involved. Underage drinking and all… I missed college already. My parents were very casual about the entire evening. Esme had made a ton of food, probably because she knew Emmett so well, and he would eat most everything she had.

Bella spent a lot of time hanging around with Alice, Rosalie and Esme, but always made sure to come over frequently to kiss me or tell me she loved me. It was nice; it was like having back the Bella that I had initially fallen for in September. It was almost 11 when Esme and Carlisle excused themselves to head to bed. Rosalie and Emmett left shortly after that because his family loved to open gifts at some ungodly hour and he wanted to get at least an hour of sleep. After I said goodbye to them, I saw Bella and Alice having a fairly heated conversation in the kitchen.

"What's going on?" I asked Jasper as I strolled back in the room. I was actually pretty tired and really hoped they would be going home soon.

"I have no idea." He shrugged his shoulders and called to Alice so that they could leave.

"Oh yeah, we should get going home. I know Bella wanted to give you her gift tonight," said Alice as she shot Bella a sneaky look. Bella started to blush and I got very curious.

"She did?" I said excitedly. Bella ignored my comment and went with me to say goodnight to Alice and Jasper. Once they had left, I immediately started to question her. "So, what do I get tonight?"

"A swift kick in the nuts if you keep asking Cullen," she said as she started up the stairs, with me on her heels. "Give me a few minutes to prepare," she said as she wandered into her room and locked both the main door and the one to the bathroom. I had no idea what was going on. A few minutes later I heard her call to me through the door, but she wouldn't open it.

"What do you need Bella?" I asked, with a slight worry to my voice.

"Can you run downstairs for me?" she asked quietly.

"What for Bella? What on earth do you need from the main floor?"

"I left my cell phone down there and I need to charge it tonight. Please?" she had resorted to begging, so I was done for. I stomped down the stairs quietly, trying not to wake my parents. When I finally got into the kitchen, I was looking everywhere for that damned phone and I couldn't find it. I eventually just pulled mine of out my pocket and dialed her number, hoping to hear it ringing, but there was nothing. As I walked back up the stairs to tell her I couldn't find it, I found the guest room door open and her phone on her bed, buzzing away. _What the hell was she doing?_

I walked down the hall to my room and found the door shut_. I hadn't shut the door. Had I?_ I knocked quietly and heard Bella tell me to come in. I was beyond confused, until I opened up the door and found her lying seductively on my bed in some black lingerie thing and a big red bow. _Merry Christmas Edward Cullen._ I picked my jaw up off the floor, locked my bedroom door and walked slowly towards the bed.

"You look beautiful, Bella" I said as I stood at the edge, drinking in the image of her in front of me. She had on a black lace bra and panty set, with black garters than ran down her pantyhose covered legs to some really sexy high heeled shoes. She said nothing, but opted to pat the bed beside her so that I could join her. I smiled and sat down beside her nervously.

"Do you like?" she asked as she smiled tentatively. I'm certain she had been nervous about this, even though there was no reason. I just started nodding my head quickly, not able to force any words out of my mouth. "Are you going to open it?" I practically ripped the bow off of her with my teeth before diving into her chest, mouth first. I pulled the tiny fabric from her breasts and immediately started to suck her nipples gently. Her hand reached behind my head and pushed me into her harder.

I positioned my entire body between her spread legs, never once removing my mouth from her soft body; when I wasn't kissing or licking, I was sucking and biting. I was moving too fast, I had hardly even looked at her since I jumped onto the bed with her. I stopped myself quickly and placed my hands on either side of her head, she laid in my bed, looking stunning.

"I love you," I said fiercely as I leaned forward and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Her hands reached up to my chest and she began unbuttoning my shirt, finally sliding it off my shoulders and throwing it somewhere into the darkness. She leaned her face towards my chest and starting kissing it happily as I ran my hands down her sides and her legs. I wanted to keep all this lingerie on her, but the panties had to go. I ran my hands back up to her hips and tried to figure out a way to get them off her. I could hear her chuckling slightly between the kisses she was showering on me.

"They tie at the sides," she laughed as she leaned back onto my pillows.

"Hallelujah," I praised as I found the little bows on her hips and untied them quickly. I threw them to the floor and Bella realized I was almost completely dressed. She gave me a disapproving look and immediately started undoing the button on my pants and pulling down the zipper. She pulled the pants and boxers off in one quick motion and they disappeared somewhere into the room. I didn't care. I was kneeling in front of the altar that was Bella and I couldn't wait to worship her.

My hands went back to exploring her body for a little while longer. I didn't really want to move, she looked so gorgeous lain out in front of me. I finally moved my body until I was hovering directly above her. I leaned forward and kissed her passionately, pulling her bottom lip into my mouth and nibbling gently. Bella's hands found my back and she was running her nails briskly up and down the center of my spine, when she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling my entire body closer to her. I knew she was ready.

"What do you want Bella?" I asked forcefully. I stared deeply into her eyes as my hand went between her legs and I ran a finger the length of her wet slit.

"You," she said throatily. She was so excited, so I kept running my fingers gently around her core, exploring every single fold and drop of wetness.

"What do you want?" I whispered to her again. This time I was a bit rougher and bit her ear lobe in the process. She said nothing. She whimpered in pleasure and suddenly I was surprised to find her hand wrapped around my shaft, stroking me gently. "Good Answer Bella," I said, as I reached into my bedside table and pulled out a condom.

"Let me," said Bella as she pulled back from me slowly. She began kissing my stomach, while covering my hardness. The moment I knew she was done, I pushed her back onto the bed and kissed her passionately, pulling her leg up onto my hip. I was dying to be inside of her. It seemed like it had been forever when it had actually only been about 2 weeks. I wanted to take my time, but the moment I saw the pure lust in Bella's eyes, I gave up my plan and thrust myself into her quickly. She gasped in pleasure and reached her hands into my hair, pulling me down to her lips and we kissed as we grunted and moaned in ecstasy.

We continued exploring each other's bodies with our hands and lips, while I constantly drove myself in and out of her, going slower now. When Bella arched her back slightly and began chanting my name, I knew she was on the verge of exploding, so I moved myself in and out of her at a quicker pace. I bent my head down and bit her nipple intensely and she came undone. She squeezed her entire body tightly, which in turn made me release deep inside her. I laid my head down on her shoulder for a moment as I caught my breath before I rolled off of her, pulling her with me onto our sides.

She kissed me gently and I started to run my finger along the side of her face tenderly. We just stared at each other for what seemed like forever, enjoying the afterglow.

"What's on your mind?" she asked as she kissed my neck sweetly. I pulled the covers of the bed up, and over our bodies, as I finally noticed the air was cool in the room.

"I was just thinking about how I needed to go shopping really soon and you get you more stuff like this," I joked as I peeked under the blanket at the outfit she was still wearing.

"Merry Christmas Edward," she muttered quietly as she leaned her head down onto my chest and started to fall asleep.

"Merry Christmas Bella."


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: I know, another update. It was sitting right in my brain, so I typed it up and here you go. It's the start of the serious stuff. Song recommendation is "displaced" by Azure Ray. Special shout out to the gals who review virtually every single chapter, Jessca123, Krissy7, snickerz610 and sammie3x. See people, if you review, you get a shout out. It's my little prize to the loyal readers! **

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

"Bella, wake up," said Edward as he whispered into my ear and nudged me gently.

"Edward, I think your Christmas gift to me should be more sleep," I said as I rubbed my eyes sleepily with the back of my hand. It was 7 in the morning. I needed more sleep, 4 hours wasn't nearly enough.

"Ok then, I'll return what I got you. Go back to sleep Bella."

"Well no, that would just be stupid," I said finally forcing myself to sit up in bed. I got self conscious for a moment when I realized I was still wearing the lingerie from the night before. I pulled the blanket up until it was under my chin.

"Don't hide Bella," said Edward as he pulled me towards him. "You're far too beautiful to be bashful about what you are wearing. I think you look sexy." I smiled and watched as he put a small silver gift box in my lap. "I was going to give it to you last night, but I never got the chance. I was too busy enjoying your gift." He looked so excited as I nervously picked up the box and ran my fingers over the paper. I opened it very slowly, trying not to tear the paper and gasped in shock when I found a beautiful necklace inside.

"It's beautiful," I said as I held it up and stared reverently at the heart lock and key pendant. It was perfect.

"It's nowhere near as stunning as you,' said Edward as he moved my hair out of the way and helped me put the necklace on. Once it was in place, I patted my hand down over the pendant to smooth it out, and Edward leaned down to give me a gentle kiss on the neck. "Perfect."

We could hear his parents' downstairs doing whatever the hell it is they do on Christmas morning, so we decided it was time to make an appearance. Edward insisted we wear our pajamas downstairs, but I quickly had to remind him that he had no clothes on and I looked like a hooker. I went back into the guest room and quickly changed before heading downstairs, hand in hand.

"Good Morning sleepyheads," said Esme as we wandered into the kitchen. Edward poured us each a cup of coffee and we sat around the kitchen table chatting happily for a little bit, waiting for Carlisle before we opened our presents. Esme immediately caught notice of my necklace. "Bella, that is just lovely. Did Edward get it for you?"

"No Esme, it was one of my other boyfriends," I chuckled, actually feeling in a good mood for once. She just smiled at me and looked at Edward approvingly.

"Whatever Bella," said Edward as he held my hand. "None of your other boyfriends are smart enough or cool enough to get you something like that." I burst out into a fit of laughter just as Carlisle came into the kitchen, wearing a cheesy Santa hat.

"Well, Merry Christmas Everyone. Are we ready?" he asked as he spread his arm out, motioning for us to go to the living room. It kind of reminded me of Vanna White, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Apparently, a Cullen family Christmas is very casual because we all sat on the floor; me snuggled between Edwards' legs with my back to his chest, and opened the gifts that Esme passed around. It seemed to take forever to open the gifts, probably because there were just so many of them. When Charlie and I celebrated Christmas, it was just the two of us, so it only took about ten minutes to get it all done with.

Esme had gotten everything for Edward that he suggested, so he was very pleased. He loved the digital camera, and she even tossed in a few gift certificates to clothing stores that he liked so that he could get himself whatever he wanted, and this made him very happy. I was shocked by the amount of gifts which Esme and Carlisle got me. I hadn't expected much, but I got just as much as Edward did, and a lot of it was the stuff I had mentioned to him casually while we were shopping back in Seattle.

"So, I guess you texted your mom with all the hints I dropped back in Seattle huh?" I asked as I poked Edward in the ribs and tickled him lightly.

My favorite gift that Esme gave me was a photo album full of photos that we had decided to put into storage from Charlie's house. Almost every photo was of me and Charlie together from some point in my life. I started tearing up the moment I opened it and she was at my side instantly offering a gentle hug. Once we were all finished, I thanked them all for their generosity and Edward and I gathered all of our gifts into a little pile to bring upstairs later.

"Oh Bella, what did you get Edward for Christmas? I'm assuming you exchanged gifts last night or earlier this morning?" Ah shit. What the hell was I supposed to say to this? Umm... actually Esme, I bought slutty lingerie and did it with your son last night.

"She made me a playlist for my iPod, filled with a bunch of meaningful songs," said Edward as he winked at me. He had clearly discovered the playlist. I just nodded my head.

"That was very sweet of you Bella."

"Well, he's so difficult to shop for I had no idea what to get him. I also ordered us concert tickets to see the Perishers in late January, but I didn't get them in the mail yet. Surprise!" I said as I looked at Edward. He was very surprised, and I knew he loved the band. I had thought of it when I got back from shopping with Rosalie and Alice a few days ago.

"You rock Bella. No wonder I love you so much," he said as he pulled me into a big hug.

"Yeah, I know." I said confidently.

We all enjoyed a very quiet breakfast and I listened to stories of Edward's childhood Christmases. Apparently, as the only child of wealthy people, he was very spoiled all his life, although you would never know it. After we had all finished and Esme relented and let me help with the cleanup, Edward and I brought all of our gifts upstairs to his room and sorted through them.

I put the clothes which Esme had purchased, clearly with some insight from Alice, in the closet of the guest bedroom and laid down on Edwards's bed and started reading one of the vintage books she bought me, Anna Karenina. Edward sat on the opposite end of the bed and began leafing through the manual for his new camera, trying to learn how to use it. Every so often, I would find him taking pictures of me.

"Oh stop it Cullen, read your little manual." I huffed after he interrupted me for the third time.

"I can't help it Bella. You are so sexy lying there reading, I just had to take a picture."

"Take a picture of this," I said as I flipped my middle finger up at him. He just laughed, took the picture and read a bit more about the features of his camera.

"I wish I had this camera last night. I would have loved to have taken pictures of you in your little outfit," he said as he leaned down and kissed me on the head, disturbing my reading yet again.

"Do you think I would let you take slutty pictures of me Edward?" I asked, turning serious all of a sudden.

"I could only hope," he laughed as he snapped another picture of me. I just shook my head and went back to the book. The rest of the day went by quickly with Alice and Rosalie both calling to see what I had gotten from Edward and his parents, and they shared what they had received. Alice and I were talking happily until I mentioned the photo album, and I tensed up a bit.

"Are you okay?" asked Alice, as I fought back tears again.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," I insisted, though she could probably tell I was lying. "Although I am getting pretty tired of everyone asking me if I am okay."

"Well Bella, did you ever think that if everyone was asking you, that maybe something was wrong?" she said coldly. I hung up the phone and stalked downstairs to be with Edward again who was sitting on the couch watching some action movie on the blu-ray player that Esme gave Carlisle.

"What's wrong?" he asked the moment I sat down beside him on the couch and laid my head down on his chest.

"I just got in a little fight with Alice, nothing major," I shrugged as he rubbed my arm gently and kissed my cheek. He said nothing more; instead opting to just hold me close as my brain worked overtime thinking about what Alice had said. _There is nothing wrong_, I kept telling myself, it was my new mantra. When we finally headed up the bed, I quickly ran into the guest bedroom and put on the red nightgown I had bought earlier in the week, eager to have a repeat of last night with Edward, and put all other thoughts out of my head. _There is nothing wrong. I should get it monogrammed on a pillow._

**Edward POV**

When Bella came back to the living room after her apparent fight with Alice, she just seemed different. She held me tighter and seemed to be muttering quietly to herself. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear what she was saying. We had made plans earlier in the week with Alice and Jasper for tomorrow, so I hoped that they would both be over the little argument and the day wouldn't be awkward.

Alice and Jasper showed up at the house about half an hour earlier than we expected, and Bella was still in the shower when they arrived.

"What the hell, we said noon right? Was there a time change and no one told me?" I asked as I opened the door, surprised to see them there.

"Where's Esme?" asked Alice casually, pushing her way past me. Jasper just shrugged his shoulders as though he had no idea what was going on. "Where's Bella?"

"Bella's still in the shower and I think my mom is in her office." Alice started down the hallway towards Esme's office immediately. She stopped at the door and politely knocked before walking in. I was fast on her heels, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Esme, do you have a few moments to talk … about Bella?" she asked, sounding very concerned. "I know you are not a doctor or anything, but you have been awesome to her, better than her own mother even, and I am very worried about her," said Alice as she sat in the chair across from my mother's desk. Jasper and I moved into the office and stood along the back wall.

"I can listen Alice, but I can't promise I can fix anything,"

"That's okay. You may not be able to help her, but you may know someone who can."

"Alice, what the fuck are you talking about?" I spit out angrily, as I caught a glare from my mom for swearing.

"She's not doing well Esme. She acts like she is, but she's not. She rarely sleeps at night, and when she does, she wakes up screaming. She told me it was because of the horror movies we saw lately, but she was always the person to pick out the movies," started Alice. All of this sounded familiar to me, but I kept my mouth shut. "She told me it only happened once, but Rose and I heard her screaming at least 3 times the week before we came here for Christmas break."

"Did you notice this Edward?" my mom asked with distress. I just nodded my head.

"She rarely lets Edward sleep over because she didn't want him to find out about her screaming," added Alice.

"She's been sleeping since we got back to Chicago," I snapped at Alice.

"Oh really Edward? Are you sure of that? You can't keep your eyes on her 24/7. When you are asleep she is probably awake."

"Shut up Alice. She slept last night. I know she did, and she slept on Christmas Eve. Sure it was probably only a few hours, but she slept." I was beyond pissed now. Who the hell was Alice to make all these remarks to my mom about Bella.

"I'm just trying to look out for her Edward. She's been snapping at me and Rose for no reason whatsoever. Last night when we were talking and I asked if she was okay, she told me she was pissed everyone kept asking her that and then she hung up on me. One day I found her in the bathroom crying because she ran out of soap… soap for christ sakes, who does that?" shrieked Alice. I know she was just worried about Bella, but I hated her for being like this. Esme nodded her head in agreement.

"She's right Edward. Between the sleeping issues, the attitude changes, the crying… and didn't you mention her grades were suffering? Something is clearly wrong."

"There is nothing wrong," yelled Bella at the top of her lungs, as she found us converged in my mother's office discussing her. "Fuck all of you for talking about me as though I was some sort of mental patient." Alice stood up immediately and tried to console her.

"Bella, we're just worried about you. You haven't been the same since Ch…" said Alice before she was interrupted.

"Don't you say his name. You never even fucking met him. None of you met him except Edward," she screamed angrily as tears poured down her face.

"I did meet him Bella, and he told me to take care of you. I can't take care of you if you don't tell me what is going on with you," I pleaded with her. She stepped back from the office, grabbed her coat and ran out the front door. I gave chase as fast as I could, with Alice right on my heels. I still had my sneakers on, but no coat. It was freezing out here.

"Bella," I yelled as I found her sitting on our bench in Grant Park. "Come on baby, you are going to freeze out here. Your hair is still wet. Let's go home." I offered as I tried to slide my arm over her shoulder, but she pushed me away. Alice finally joined us and Bella glared at her, as though it was Alice who had killed Charlie a month ago.

"Bella, I am so sorry I talked to Esme about this, but I am really worried about you. You aren't the same anymore. I miss my Bella." She said as she kneeled in front of her, trying to get Bella to look at her.

"Of course I'm not the same anymore Alice," she shrieked. "My dad was fucking shot by a wife beater. My mom only wants to be near me for his money and all my friends think I am going crazy. _There's nothing wrong_!"Bella started to shiver and I tried again to get her to leave, but she wouldn't budge.

"If there is nothing wrong Bella, why won't you move from this bench? Why did you yell at all of us for trying to help you? Why are you screaming at night? Why aren't you sleeping? Why are you fighting with me about the littlest things? This is something Bella. "I screamed at her. "I love you too much to watch you fade away." I grabbed her hand and she tried to pull it away, but I wouldn't let go. I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder, gripping onto her as tightly as possible, as we walked away from the park.

"Put me down Edward Cullen," she bellowed as she punched her little fists into my back. Alice followed behind us closely, and tried to calm Bella to no avail. When we finally got back to the house, Bella ran straight upstairs and locked the door to the guest bedroom. I felt a small victory though, because I was at least able to get her back into the house. My mom came out of her office, with Jasper at her side. It had only been about half an hour since Bella had run out of the house.

"I called your father," she said succinctly. I just nodded my head, not liking the sound of where this is going. "He's going to bring a colleague over later, a psychiatrist, to talk to Bella. He thinks she may be suffering from severe depression." My heart sank into my chest and I wanted to cry like I did the night Charlie died. I prayed that Bella was right and that there really was nothing wrong.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: So no real important note here. Review and enjoy! **

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

This was officially beyond bad. I had been standing outside of the door to the guest bedroom for over 20 minutes, unable to knock. I didn't even bother to try the handle; I knew full well Bella had locked it. I would have locked it if I was her. When Esme finally came upstairs to let me know that Carlisle and Peter, his coworker the psychiatrist, had arrived, I realized I had to bite the bullet. Esme opened a drawer in a small console table in the hallway, handed me a small key and just walked back down the stairs.

When I finally unlocked the door, she was sitting in the middle of the bed, sobbing quietly. Her knees were pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and she was lightly rocking back and forth. She looked so fragile, but already broken.

"Bella," I whispered tentatively as I inched closer to her. "Will you talk to me?" She said nothing. "I'm sorry I carried you back here like some stupid possessive boyfriend. I just didn't want you to get sick or hurt. I love you."

"Then support me. Agree with me. There is nothing wrong," she said quietly as she stopped the rocking motion of her body.

"I do support you, but if there was nothing wrong, none of this would be happening." I hesitated before continuing what I needed to say. "There is someone here to help you," I said painfully, not wanting to admit to myself that she needed help.

"You are here to help me. That's all I need."

"No Bella, that is not all you need," said someone who I guessed was Peter, as he stood in the doorway watching us. I hadn't even heard him climb the stairs or walk near the room. "I'm Peter. I work with Carlisle down at the hospital." Bella nodded her head, clearly acknowledging him, but then she reached for my hand and wouldn't let go. "Would you mind if we talked?"

"Can Edward stay?" she said very quietly, her voice sounding sore and broken.

"Sure, if that is what you want," he replied genuinely as he grabbed a chair from the opposite side of the room and sat down in front of us. Bella adjusted herself on the bed and the moment I sat down beside her, she clung to me for dear life.

"Esme and Carlisle filled me in on the recent events of your life Bella. Did you want to discuss them with me?" asked Peter solemnly. I hoped like hell that he knew what he was doing. She shook her head. "Can Edward tell me about them?"

"He can tell you whatever he wants," she said angrily. Peter was trying to get her to talk and I assumed he figured that if I said something she didn't like, she would contradict me, thus answering his questions. I would play his games, if it meant she got better.

"When did you notice Bella was different?" asked Peter as he stared at Bella, noticing every single movement she made. I ran my hand down her back to reassure her of my love and started to answer his questions.

"I have been worried about her since the moment we went back to school after her father's funeral. We stopped spending time together for a bit, she would blow off plans with me for no apparent reason and when she did finally talk to me, I figured it was only because she was drunk. Sorry Bella," I said as I looked into her slightly shocked gaze. "I'm just being honest."

"How does that make you feel Bella?"

"Like shit," she replied bluntly, still not really wanting to get drawn into the conversation.

"When did the nightmares start?" he asked again, appearing like he was taking mental notes or something.

"I heard the first scream the night before we came here for Christmas break, so like a week ago. But according to her roommate Alice, they have been happening for a while longer. Apparently Bella didn't like me sleeping over because she didn't want me to know about the nightmares." I was being as completely forthright as possible. I wanted her back together again. I wanted us to make love every chance we got, and fall asleep in each other's arms and to not have to worry about being woken up to screams of terror. "Tell Peter when they started Bella," I implored as I stroked her hair gently.

"Fine. The nightmares started the night I found out Charlie died and the screams started the night I got back to Seattle. Happy now?" she asked as she glared at me.

"Yes, very," I replied in frustration.

"So I am guessing that the nightmares are the reason you aren't sleeping?" Bella nodded her head. "And the not sleeping is affecting your grades, and clearly your personal life." She nodded again. I was feeling very proud of her as she started to open up to Peter a bit more with every question he asked her. It was almost an hour later when she was finally answering his questions in full sentences, and not needing any additional encouragement from me. She even talked at length about Charlie and the effect his death had on her. She never discussed us though, but then again, Peter didn't bring it up. When Peter finally seemed finished with his questioning, he went downstairs to get Esme and Carlisle to join us.

"I'm very proud of you," I whispered as I kissed her on the forehead tenderly.

"Thanks," she croaked hoarsely, her throat clearly still sore from all the crying. Esme and Carlisle walked in a few moments later and Peter looked prepared to give us some sort of assessment about Bella. I was nervous, and she clung to me like a drowning person to a life raft.

"Well, you've obviously got some form of depression Bella," he said concisely. "You should definitely look into getting some additional assistance, perhaps visiting a psychiatrist back at school. I know UW has a great psychology center for their students, so I recommend you go to that as soon as possible when you get back into Seattle. I could give you a prescription for the sleeping issues, but it won't make the nightmares or anything go away. It's just a short term solution."

I looked down at Bella and she had started to cry again. Esme slowly wandered over and wrapped us both into a bear hug while Peter continued talking.

"You should be very glad that your friends and family care enough to have noticed the changes in you. Sometimes it takes years before the depression is diagnosed and more severe forms of therapy are required. If you make an appointment with a psychiatrist back at school and are diligent about it all, I think in the long run things will be fine."

"So I can be fixed?" she asked hopeful.

"You're not broken Bella, you're just sad. It's logical after the loss of technically both parents. You just need to learn to stand on your own two feet again and not be afraid." said Peter as he watched carefully for Bella's reaction.

"Can you hand me my cell phone Carlisle?" I asked, motioning behind him on the dresser.

"Who do you need to call?" inquired Esme curiously.

"UW. They're open today so I am calling to book an appointment with the psychiatrist." Said Bella confidently. If it wasn't for the tear stained cheeks, she might almost look like my Bella from last September.

**Bella POV**

So I'm sick, but it's treatable. So I'm sad, but I'm happy. I know what is wrong, but sometimes I still can't believe it. So much for the pillow I was going to embroider that said 'There is nothing wrong.' After Peter left, Alice and Jasper came up to talk quickly before they too had to leave for dinner with Jasper's parents.

"I'm not sorry," said Alice as she wandered into the room where Edward was still holding me. Of course, I was the one clinging to him as though my last breath depended on it. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"You were just being a good friend Alice. I'm sorry it came to this," I said as I hung my head in shame. Edward reached his finger under my chin and pushed my head back up.

"Don't be ashamed. Five years from now this will be a distant memory and we will all be happy doing whatever the hell we will be doing," said Edward with a genuine tone to his voice. I believed him.

"I don't want to know you guys in five years. I'm gonna be a nude model in France somewhere," joked Jasper as Alice punched him lightly in the gut. I just laughed and tried not to think about Jasper naked.

"Dude, don't make us dry heave, it's been a while since we ate anything," growled Edward.

"Do you want me to have Esme bring you guys something to eat?" asked Alice as she turned to head to the door.

"No, I think 4 hours is more than enough time to be stuck in this room. It's kinda tainted to me now. We'll make it downstairs after I move all of my stuff into Edwards's room for the next few nights." I said bluntly. I was just going after what I wanted. It's not like his parents had no idea we were sleeping together.

"Okay, well we will see you guys on New Year's Eve right? At Rose's house?" said Jasper as he grabbed Alice's hand in his.

"Yeah, we'll be there." I said confidently, as Edward looked down at me and sighed. Perhaps he didn't want to go to the party, I thought to myself. Before Alice and Jasper left, they each gave me a big hug and promised to be there if I needed them. The moment I heard the front door close, I gently hopped off the bed and gathered all my stuff to move it into Edwards' bedroom.

"Why are you moving all your stuff all of a sudden?" he asked curiously as he sat on the bed watching me.

"You could help you know?" I joked lazily with him.

"Bella, you have two suitcases and some Christmas gifts, it's not important if they are in my room."

"It's important to me. We only have a few more days left of holidays, let's just enjoy them," I looked back at Edward, practically begging with my eyes, and he finally relented and helped me carry some stuff into his room. The rest of the night was very awkward. During dinner, Esme and Carlisle kept looking at me as though I might snap at any time, and Edward always kept me close, as though he was keeping an eye on me. It was getting weird.

The next few days were no better. I was never alone, unless I was in the bathroom, but even then Edward or Esme would knock on the door to check on me if they thought I was taking too long. I did a little sightseeing one day with Rose and Alice, but I just didn't feel into it at all. The fact that they always seemed to be whispering about something didn't help. Perhaps I was also becoming paranoid. If Edward wasn't with me, then it was Esme, Rose or Alice. Even Carlisle got in on the annoyance and offered to teach me how to play chess. I turned him down and went back to reading my book, but he still stayed within my line of vision, watching me.

By the time New Years Eve rolled around, I was starting to think they had me on some sort of suicide watch. It was almost 3 when Alice showed up at the house, insisting she had to help me get ready for Rosalie's party.

"Alice, I can pull up a zipper myself," I snarled at her when she bounded up into Edward's room and practically took over. I was a very unwilling participant in her game of 'make over Bella' but I also knew it didn't matter, she would do it anyways.

"Oh just relax Bella. I'm just gonna do your hair. You've been moping around here for days in a ponytail; the least I could do was help with your hair. Okay?" she said forcefully.

"Fine Alice, but if I look like a hooker when I am done, so help me god, I will strangle you," I said in frustration. I knew she wouldn't make me look like a hooker, but I didn't know what was in style these days; I just hoped it wasn't gigantic 80's hair and blue eye shadow.

It took almost two hours, a lot of pulling and primping and almost an entire bottle of some sort of product, but it actually looked decent, pretty even. Edward seemed impressed when he finally wandered into the room to get dressed.

"You look great Bella," he said happily. It was actually the happiest I had seen him in several days.

"Well, thank Alice, she's the miracle worker," I laughed effortlessly.

"Bella, your dress is lying in the guestroom. I'm gonna go downstairs and get my outfit to get changed. Jasper will be here any minute to drive us over to Rose's," said Alice as she shot Edward a quick glance, as though telling him to hurry up.

Edward stepped into his closet to pull out something to wear and I headed into the guest bedroom to slide on the red cocktail dress that Alice had laid out. We had picked it up while we were out sightseeing a few days earlier. Alice got the exact same dress in black and promised she wouldn't be wearing it tonight. That would be too much of a fashion faux pas for her. The dress was knee length, had a little ruffled edge at the bottom and along the small straps on the shoulders, I thought it was sexy, yet not slutty. Edward clearly agreed when he popped his head into the room and a huge smile crossed his face.

"Well, aren't I the luckiest guy tonight? You look sensational," he said as he kissed my neck gently.

"Keep this up Cullen and we'll never make it to Rosalie's party," I said as I grabbed his hair and tried to tug him from my skin gently.

"Who cares? Its people from high school I never cared for who are coming tonight. We could just stay here, or go get ourselves a nice big hotel room and really celebrate in style, all by ourselves," he whispered as he continued to suck gently on my neck.

"Edward, you are going to give me a damned hickey,' I said as I finally pushed him off of me. "We're gonna go. I owe it to Alice and Rose for being so supportive lately. Please?" I said sweetly, as he frowned slightly and then grabbed my hand to lead us out of the room and into the cold New Year's night.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Sorry there was no overnight update. I ended up passing out at like 9, I guess my insomnia is catching up to me. Enjoy the New Years Chapter, it's kinda funny, kinda heartbreaking but again, no breakups. Welcome back lysvia.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

Jasper arrived shortly before 7 armed with enough booze for a small country, although I was insistent I would not be drinking. I hadn't been to a party in almost 2 years without alcohol in my system. I thought that considering my current situation, it might be best if I remain on my best behavior. I know Jasper and Emmett didn't think I would be able to stay sober, but I was confident I could prove them wrong. When we finally got to Rosalie's there were a few other people lounging in the living room, clearly old friends of theirs from here in Chicago.

"So the fearsome foursome rides again," yelled some slightly trashy looking blonde, when she saw Edward and Jasper walk in.

"Old high school nickname for the four of us," he whispered as he took my coat and led me into the living room where everyone else was converged, except Rose and Emmett.

"Lauren, Jordana, Liam, this is Bella, my girlfriend," said Edward as he introduced me to the group. _Mental note, Lauren is the trashy one._ They all looked pretty shocked to hear the word 'girlfriend' fall from Edwards's lips.

"Dude, say it ain't so," said Liam as he waved his arms in a drunken manner. He looked like he was trying to land a plane or something. "She's way too hot for you. I know of a few girls, present company included that are going to be pissed that you are off the market," he laughed looking right at Lauren. I just blushed as Edward squeezed my hand and led me into the kitchen, completely ignoring Liam's comments. This is where we found Rosalie and Emmett, who were now joined by Alice and Jasper. They were all mixing themselves drinks and Emmett immediately handed one to Edward.

"Bella, I love you," yelled Emmett, even though I was standing about ten feet from him. He strolled over and gave me such a big hug my feet actually left the ground.

"What time did you start drinking? I asked as I pushed him back from me gently, once I was safe on solid ground.

"Uhh, like 11 I think. It was 5 o clock somewhere," he laughed as he took another shot and a chaser of beer. I just looked at him and rolled my eyes.

"Rose, why the hell did you invite Lauren?" asked Edward, looking a little angry.

"I didn't. I invited Liam and he brought her. Apparently they have become closer friends since he came out of the closet and they are both going to Northwestern together. How was I supposed to know?" groaned Rosalie, looking a little upset with herself.

"Who's Lauren?" asked Alice excitedly.

"Some crazy psycho who was practically stalking Edward before we left for UW. It was hilarious really," laughed Jasper as he showed Alice which person on the couch was Lauren. By this point, a few more of Rose's guests had arrived, so she dragged Emmett to the door with her to greet everyone.

"A Stalker? Cool, it's like one of those after school specials," joked Alice as she patted Edward on the back. He didn't look amused. "Did she send you creepy love notes? Threaten anyone who loved you? Perhaps tied you up and left you in the trunk of her car?"

"I'm sure you'd find it very funny if someone you couldn't stand showed up everywhere you went for six months," said Edward as he gripped his beer so tightly his knuckles were white.

"We can leave if you want?" I offered as I rubbed my hand in circles on his back in a comforting motion, like he had done for me for the past few weeks.

"No, its New Years Eve, we should be celebrating. Let's all pretend she's not even here, no laughing, no pointing, let's ignore her completely," he said being completely serious. I just nodded my head as Alice and Jasper agreed. "I just want to drink and kiss my girl at midnight, is that too much to ask?"

"Of course not," I said as I kissed him lightly on the lips just as Lauren walked in.

"Hey Jasper, Noel's here looking for you," she said slyly as she walked over to where we had all congregated in the kitchen.

"Let's all go see him," said Jasper as he grabbed Alice's hand and we all followed him back towards the living room, leaving Lauren by herself, fuming. She really did seem like she was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, but I was not going to let her ruin my night.

The first few hours of the party went by quickly enough. Edward spent most of the time introducing me to friends of his from high school. I knew I would never remember any of their names, but they all seemed nice enough. Emmett's old football friends piled in just before 10 and the house got increasingly louder and finally seemed like a real party. I joined Edward, Jasper, Noel and Liam as they played drinking games in the back dining room for a little while. They were talking about the usual high school crap, girls, sports, and teachers. It was actually pretty boring. Is this how it felt to be sober when everyone else was drunk? It was _almost_ enough to make me start drinking.

After a little while, Alice hijacked me from the sausage fest in the dining room and we locked ourselves in the upstairs bathroom for a little while.

"Okay, I know I am tipsy…"

"Alice, you are beyond tipsy," I laughed at her.

"Ok, I know I am really smashed, but everyone here is so weird. I miss the parties back at the boys' apartment, ya know?" she said all wistfully.

"Yeah, I miss those two. I liked it before Edward and I were dating and everyone wasn't looking at me like I was about to jump off a bridge or something," I replied honestly. She looked at me with her mouth wide open. "Shut your pie hole Alice, I can see your uvula."

"If you want, I will reduce all eye contact with you for the rest of the night," she joked as she rolled her eyes so that she was only looking up.

"Yeah, Alice. That would be great. Stare at the ceiling all night, then you can bump into everyone, spill all their drinks, ruin Rosalie's rugs and she will hate you forever. Good idea brainiac!" We laughed together as she took another sip of her drink.

"This really is a nice bathroom isn't it?" she laughed again as she ran her hand along the marble of the countertop she was sitting on.

"Oh yeah, it's Buckingham Palace," I sighed. Alice hopped from the counter and gave me a big hug. "Am I a drunk magnet? That is the fourth hug I've received from a drunk tonight. Now I know why I am always drunk at parties. It's no fun being the sober person."

"What time is it Bella?" I shrugged my shoulders since I had no idea.

"Alice, I'm locked in Rosalie's parents bathroom with you. No purse, no cell phone, no watch. How the hell would I know?" I said back to her jokingly. She tentatively opened the door, as though expecting to find some sort of monster on the other side and peered around the corner to the big grandfather clock in the Hale's master bedroom.

"Ugh, it's quarter to 12. I suppose we should go and find the boys?" she said casually, as she opened the door fully and raised her hand to lead me out. "Let's go Bella babe." I followed slowly behind her, we still had fifteen minutes. I was certain I could find Edward in plenty of time before Rosalie put on some shitty ass downloaded version of Auld Lang Syne and everyone started their own personal grope fest.

We immediately walked downstairs and headed to the dining room where they were all last seen. It was empty. Alice saw a glimpse of Jasper in the backyard, so we followed. He was outside smoking up with some friends of his, but no Edward.

"Good Luck Alice," I said as I wandered away still looking for Edward. Well, this was exciting. I found Rosalie a few minutes later and she let me know that she saw Edward looking for me about five minutes ago. Great. We're wasting time doing the exact same thing. It was getting increasingly harder to walk through the house based on the sheer number of people here. Maybe fifteen minutes wasn't enough to find him. Rosalie stood on the stairs and shouted to everyone that there was two minutes left till midnight, and panic set in. _Where the fuck was he?_

I took Rose's lead and stood high on the open stairwell, looking everywhere, and finally noticed him in the corner, with Lauren all over him. He was absolutely wasted, which was no excuse, especially when I saw her run her hands though his hair, and he didn't pull her away. I grabbed my purse from the closet and walked out of the house, leaving my coat behind. When I stepped into the night air, it actually had warmed up considerably. A warm December, I didn't think Chicago knew what that was. I started slowly down the front steps of Rosalie's house and listened wistfully to the music starting up and the countdown from 10 to 1. I grabbed the first cab I could find and headed back to the Cullens' to gather my things and head back to Seattle. I had some business to attend to.

**Edward POV**

"What do you mean you don't know where she is Alice?" I screeched at her, now that midnight had already passed, as well as my chance to kiss Bella. "Where did you last see her?"

"We hung out upstairs for a bit and then about twenty minutes ago we both came down here looking for you guys. I found Jasper out back getting baked, and she continued to look for you. I have no idea where she went. She couldn't have gone far" sighed Alice as I continued to get more upset. I continued to look around the room, and finally I found Rosalie.

"Have you seen Bella?" I asked desperately as she finished her drink and handed it to Emmett for a refill like he was her own personal butler.

"Yeah, like five or ten minutes ago. She was standing on the stairs looking for you after I called out that there was only two minutes left till midnight," she said casually.

"I can't find her anywhere," I admitted as I bowed my head remorsefully.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" she shrieked. "She's not in any condition to be going anywhere alone."

"It's not like she was drinking Rosalie," I snapped back at her angrily, but we both knew we weren't talking about alcohol. I headed through the room asking random people if they had seen her. I was describing her in detail because unfortunately no one here knew her at all. She was probably a fly on the wall of this party and no one even noticed her. Fuck, I hardly noticed her since I spent the evening getting trashed with my friends, trying to relieve some of the stress of the past few weeks.

I finally asked Jamie, who had been chilling in a recliner near the door most of the night, if he had seen her.

"Hot brunette, killer legs, sexy red dress?" he asked lazily. I bet he had been out back getting blazed with Jasper earlier. "Yeah, I saw her man. She was fucking hot, too bad she left, I didn't even get her number."

"She left?" I muttered in frustration.

"That's what I said man. She left. She grabbed her purse or whatever and left. It was just before midnight. I was gonna go after her to ask her for a midnight kiss, but I didn't want to leave this chair, or my Doritos," he said very serious. This guy was a moron. I opened the closet door and found her coat, but no purse. She wouldn't have left without her coat.

"It's too cold out there," I said quietly.

"Actually, it warmed up dude. It's a nice warm December, or January or whatever," he said as he stuffed a handful of Sweet Spicy Doritos in his mouth. I ripped open the front door and looked both ways down the street. No sign of her. Then again, it had been over ten minutes at this point, so she could be anywhere, with anyone.

"ALICE," I screamed at the top of my lungs, when I got back into the house. I was not going to start searching for her for twenty minutes. She showed up a minute later with Jasper and Lauren beside her. "She left," I said furiously.

"What do you mean, she left?" she asked quietly.

"Jamie here saw her leave just before midnight."

"Dude, Jamie is a slacker and massive pothead. I wouldn't exactly trust him," said Jasper as calmly as possible.

"No really, her purse is gone. He said she got her purse from the closet, left her coat and walked out a few minutes before midnight. There's no sign of her in the house at all." I was so panicked at this point I didn't know what to do.

"Call her cell phone," suggested Alice. I reached into my pocket for my phone and caught Lauren giving us each a snide glance. "What the fuck is your problem?" Alice yelled at her as I dialed. It went straight to voice mail; she had clearly turned her phone off.

"She must have seen us talking Edward," said Lauren happily. "It was just before midnight when we were talking in the corner." _Fuck me._

"Listen you little psycho stalker," shrieked Alice as she grabbed Lauren by the collar of her shirt dress and pulled her forward. "What the fuck did you see, and more importantly what the fuck did you do?"

"I saw her on the stairs watching Edward and I talking about school. She may have gotten the wrong impression when I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, or ran my hands through his hair, but it's her fault that she didn't come talk to us," said Lauren with an evil grin on her face. I was shocked when Alice hauled off and punched her in the jaw, and walked away, leaving Lauren crying and gripping her face in pain.

"It was harmless Alice, I swear," I said as I followed her outside to the front porch. "Seriously. Do you think I would do something like that to Bella?"

"No, I don't think you would, but Bella hasn't exactly been thinking straight for the past month. It's Bella I don't trust," she said honestly. I took my cell phone back out of my pocket and called my mom.

"Sorry Edward, we're still down at the Fairmont Chicago for our New Year's Party. I will let you know if I hear from her," said Esme quickly as she went back to her party. _Where the hell would Bella go?_ My house.

"We have to go back to my place, I bet she's there," I said confidently as I grabbed my coat from the closet, along with hers and headed outside. Alice called for a cab and we waited patiently, all of us emanating concern, until it arrived about 15 minutes later. At this point Bella had almost an hour on us, so if she wasn't at home, she could be anywhere in the greater Chicago area.

It only took us about 10 minutes to get back to my parents house, with Alice and Jasper by my side. When we finally walked in, after fishing the spare key out from under the mat, Alice and Jasper looked across the first floor for her, while I went straight up to my room. It was all gone. The clothes, the Christmas gifts, everything, and in its place on my bed was a small envelope.

_Edward, _

_This is not goodbye, it's see you in a few days. I have something really important to do back in Seattle._

_Love,_

_Bella._

"Fuck," I screamed as loudly as possible. Alice and Jasper ran into the room as I slumped down onto the floor with my back to my bed. I handed her the note and buried my head in my hands, already missing her like crazy.

"Edward, she didn't dump you, she just had to get back to Seattle," said Alice, trying to make this situation better. "We go back in two days, so relax. You'll see her soon." Two days, Alice was right, it was only two days. Well one really, seeing as it was January 1st already. Our flights left late tomorrow night. I could handle two days, but could Bella? _What the hell was she doing?_


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Just so you know, this won't be a long chapter, but will fill you in on what Edward and Bella did during the first day after New Year's Eve. It also switches between their POV's. **

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Bella POV**

I got back to the empty dorm just after 3am Seattle time and tossed my luggage onto my sad looking bed realizing I would never fall asleep. Not now anyways. So, I took my Christmas gifts and packed them into some boxes so I could move them in a few days. Once that was done I decided to clean the entire apartment. I was avoiding sleep. I was avoiding the three voicemails that Edward had left. I was also avoiding the one left by Esme. I was also avoiding the two texts from Rosalie and Alice. Once I was completely done, I took a very long hot shower, waiting for the rest of Washington to wake up.

At eight I called to reschedule my appointment with the on-campus psychiatrist that I was scheduled to see on Wednesday. Luckily for me, they had a cancellation today so I rebooked for one that afternoon. The downfall was that I now had 4 hours to kill and nothing to do. I checked my cell phone and was actually relieved to see there were no more messages. I turned the phone back off and shoved it in the back pocket of my jeans. I sat down on the couch and fingered the pendant on my necklace anxiously as I stared out at the sea of boxes in front of me. I could always try to move my stuff two days early. Couldn't hurt to try right? I called the building manager and he said it would be no problem since all of our checks had already cleared and the apartment was empty, with the exception of the furniture that was delivered and setup a few days after Christmas. I quickly called a cab and brought all of my boxes and bags downstairs to the lobby of the dorm. Luckily, it only took me 3 trips.

"Moving out?" asked the scruffy cab driver as he helped me load my boxes into the trunk and back seat of his car.

"Moving on," I said confidently.

**Edward POV**

It had only been 12 hours since I saw her last, but I felt empty. She wasn't returning my calls and hadn't spoken to any of our friends. I checked in with them on a regular basis and I think I was pissing them off.

"She asked for a few days Edward, just relax," said Esme as I riddled her with questions during breakfast that morning. "You'll be back in Seattle tomorrow night and then you and Bella can straighten everything out. I'm sure she's fine." Always so positive my mom was. Too bad, at this moment, it was driving me crazy. I had no one to call in Seattle to see if she had gone there. The only person I could possibly think of was Mike Newton, and there was no way I was calling that fucker.

After I ate, I ran upstairs and started to pack my bags, a day early. I laid out my clothes for tomorrow and put everything else away. I left the bags by my bedroom door, eager to get out of Chicago. I lay down on my bed and grabbed one of the books from my nightstand, Less than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. Well I couldn't read that, seeing as that was my current frame of mind, I threw it towards my bookshelf and reached for the iPod. I instantly turned on the playlist which Bella had created for me as a Christmas gift, and listened intensely as the first song, 'Cannonball' by Damien Rice. I was missing her with every fiber of my being.

_There's still a little bit of your taste in my mouth, still a little bit of you laced with my doubt, it's still a little harder to say what's going on._

_There's still a little bit of your ghost your witness, still a little bit of your face I haven't kissed, you step a little closer each day, that I can't say what's going on._

_Stones taught me to fly_

_Love, it taught me to lie_

_Life, it taught me to die_

_So It's not hard to fall_

_When you float like a cannonball_

**Bella POV**

Once I got all of my stuff into my new bedroom, thanks to the assistance of Gary the lovely cab driver with a daughter almost my age, I lied down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. _Home Sweet Hom_e_,_ I thought to myself as I headed to the kitchen to check out the time. 11:28. I still had an hour and a half. I unpacked some of my clothes into the closet and put away a few quick things before I decided to just get on the bus. Maybe they would be able to see me early.

When I finally walked into the pretty boring looking office an hour later, I began to get nervous and hesitant. I stared at the plain beige walls and realized I couldn't just back away now. I had mustered up every ounce of my courage to get to this point, and I wasn't looking back. I put my hand over the pendant of my necklace and walked forward to the receptionist to provide her my information.

"I'm Isabella Swan; I have a one o'clock appointment with Dr. Jackson." She nodded at me kindly, handing me a clipboard with various questions and asked me to complete it and return it to her. I sat down in one of the nearby chairs and starting checking yes or no. Some of the questions made me want to laugh, even though I knew they were serious.

_Have you ever tried to harm yourself? _No

_Have you ever tried to harm someone else? _No, unless you count the time I wanted to beat the living daylights out of Mike Newton. I decided to leave that part out.

_Do you sleep? _Not really (I wrote this beside the No box)

_Do you take drugs? _ No

_Do you drink? _ _If yes, how much_. Yes, Social Occasions Only

_Have you ever had a traumatic experience? If so, explain in detail on the reverse._ Filling out this form had been a traumatic experience. I didn't write that, but I wanted to. I did a few sentences about Charlie's passing and was about to hand in my form when the receptionist called my name. I was as ready as I would ever be.

I sat in the cramped office for what felt like forever. I kept looking around at the diplomas on the wall, he was a UW graduate, no big surprise there. I would have gotten up to check his book collection, but it's not like I was dating the guy, nor would he have anything worth reading.

"Isabella, pleasure to meet you. I'm Dr. Jackson," he said as he walked in and extended his hand to me politely.

"Everyone calls me Bella," I corrected him. He nodded to acknowledge me and then he sat across from me and analyzed my form that I had filled out.

"So, what brings you here today?"

"Well, I'm apparently depressed." I said, trying to mask my nervousness with sarcasm.

"And what brings you to this conclusion? Have you been Googling depression and suddenly think you are?" I laughed at him and noticed he wasn't laughing with me. "It happens more than you think."

"No. My father passed away in November and ever since, things haven't been quiet the same." I told him at length about what I had been experiencing and my meeting with Peter Burke back in Chicago.

"Dr. Burke. He's a great man, and a wonderful doctor. I met him a few years ago at a conference back in Chicago."

"So, I want you to help me. I want to get better and I want to get back to normal," I said nervously after he asked what I wanted from our time together. He scribbled a few notes and then called his receptionist to cancel the next appointment. We spent the next two hours discussing almost everything under the sun. I walked out of there with a prescription for some sort of anti-depressant and a weekly appointment for the next 4 months. Dr. Jackson advised that after the four months, we would reevaluate the situation and see if further counseling was needed. It was a little daunting to tell this person my inner most thoughts and feelings, but if it meant I would get better, I would do it for me, and for Edward and for us.

**Edward POV**

Still no word from Bella. No texts, no emails, no phone calls. I trusted her, I had faith in her and I knew I would see her tomorrow night, but I just didn't feel good. Shortly after the most awkward dinner of my life was over, I grabbed my coat and headed out for a walk. I needed to clear my mind. I needed to text Bella one more time. I wandered over to Grant Park and found our bench in front of the fountain. I sat down sideways, stretching my legs in front of me, taking up the whole bench. There were only a few other fools out in the park at night on January 1st. Everyone else was probably watching a bowl game or something. Emmett had called earlier and invited me to watch a few with him, but I couldn't be bothered to leave the house at that point. I reached into my coat pocket for my phone and sent her yet another message.

_Just tell me you are safe. _ I stared at the message for a few moments before I hit send. I barely had time to put my phone in my pocket before she responded.

_I'm fine. Safely back in Seattle._ Thank you god! I said out loud, finally getting a reply from her.

_I miss you and love you_ I typed back as quickly as possible. God I hated texting. I was so much better face to face.

_I'll see you on Wednesday. I love you too_ was the final thing I heard from her that day. But it was enough. I felt better, relieved even. I went home and told Esme that I had heard from Bella, even if it was only 11 words. It was something.

"I told you she was fine Edward. Perhaps you should go see a psychiatrist, you're getting paranoid." She joked as I shot her an evil glance and headed back up the stairs to my bedroom. Would it be too much to put my luggage by the front door now?


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Okay, good news and bad news. Bad news is, this is the last chapter. Good news, there is an epilogue 5 years down the road coming very soon. Of course, if you enjoy my writing, there is always my new story, 'follow through' which I promise to update as often as possible.**

**Thanks to the loyal readers, especially lysvia and jessca123, who reviewed basically every chapter. You better read my new stories lysvia. I don't know if I can continue to write without your witty comments. Perhaps I should just force you to be my beta! LOL.**

**If you want some music to go along with the chapter, I recommend Better Man by James Morrison!**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

Tuesday night when we finally got back into Seattle, I somehow managed to squeeze all five of us and our luggage into the Volvo. Sure, they all had some luggage on their laps, but that wasn't my problem. I was still worried about Bella. I still hadn't heard from her since late on Monday when she said she would see me on Wednesday. I was really hoping she would be in her suite and that I could see her again. I needed to see that she was alright.

We pulled in front of the dorm and the girls grabbed all their bags and Emmett, Jasper and I graciously helped them bring them upstairs. Okay, it was more like we were forced to do it because they claimed to be too tired, but I didn't care, I just wanted to see Bella. When they unlocked the door to their suite, I think Rose and Alice were just as surprised as I was that she wasn't there. In fact, her entire room had been cleaned out, a bunch of the boxes were gone and the apartment was spotless.

"You could eat off the floor it's so fucking clean in here," said Emmett as he looked around the suite, wondering where the hell Bella was. Maybe I would get lucky and when I get into my apartment, she will have moved in all of her stuff and be apologizing for leaving me on New Year's Eve. I somehow didn't think I was that lucky.

"She took all of her stuff?" said Jasper as he walked out of her room just as confused as the rest of us. "Well, she left a few boxes of kitchen stuff, so that must be a good sign."

"Bella left me a note," said Alice she walked back into the common room from her bedroom. "She stuck a post-it note to my door saying that she'll see us tomorrow when we move," said Alice as she waved the small yellow piece of paper around.

"That's it??" I yelled in frustration.

"What did you expect?" said Rosalie quietly. "Didn't she say we would see her on Wednesday?"

"Edward, we're all worried about her, but she at least texted you. Rose and I have heard nothing from her since New Year's Eve. We will all see her tomorrow and we will move on from there. I have faith in her. I'm sure she's fine," said Alice confidently as she wandered into the kitchen to get a bottle of water from the fridge. "Shit, we have no glasses." She muttered as she decided to just drink it straight from the bottle.

"Let's go. I need sleep." I said in frustration to Jasper and Emmett. They kissed their girls goodnight and promised to be back early in the morning with the rental van to move the rest of their stuff. I always hated that suite, and now I hate it more than ever because Bella isn't there.

I didn't sleep well. I don't even know why I bothered climbing into bed at all. I tossed and turned and tried to think up as many different scenarios as to where she was. I know she said I wouldn't see her until Wednesday, but I didn't know where she was and I didn't like it. She could be lying in a ditch dying from a massive head wound, but I wouldn't know because she kept her cell phone turned off.

At seven in the morning, I wandered downstairs and hopped in the shower. Three hours of sleep would be enough for the time being. Emmett and Jasper were getting ready to leave to pick up the truck when I finally finished my shower.

"I'll meet you guys at the dorm okay?" I said casually as I headed upstairs to get dressed. They needed my help since the van they rented only sat two people. I would be driving the girls to their new apartment, with some of the breakables in the back of the Volvo. I'm guessing breakables meant Rosalie's big mirror and Alice's makeup. When I finally got up to their suite, they were about to bring the last load of boxes down to the truck.

"She's not here dude," said Emmett as he handed me two boxes and I followed them down the stairs and out of the building. "Thank god the new place has an elevator."

We pulled up in front of their building, which was literally two blocks away from our apartment. I was pleased about the new location. If I ran from my apartment, I could probably be at Bella's in like 5 minutes. Good to know. The girls headed straight upstairs, carrying nothing, and I was pissed.

"I wasn't hired to be a mover," I yelled as the elevator closed behind them."I wasn't even hired at all. You guys are forcing me against my will to do all this shit."

"They can't hear you anymore Edward. Anyways, they need to get the keys, so calm down," said Jasper as he helped me unload a couple of boxes onto the dolly they had rented with the truck. We sat down on the back of the truck, waiting for Alice and Rose to return with the keys. Sure enough, a few minutes later they showed up and handed each one of us our own key to the apartment.

"It's only fair," said Alice as she handed Jasper his key. "You guys will probably want to live in our new place most of the time anyways." Jasper grabbed the dolly and I grabbed a few boxes and we headed up to their new apartment. As we unlocked the door and walked right it, I had a very strange sense of déjà vu, and there in the doorway to her new bedroom, stood Bella. She looked just as beautiful as she did on the very first day she found Jasper and I moving Rose's stuff into her dorm room. She was wearing a tight pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt that she had clearly stolen from my bedroom back in Chicago. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and I wanted nothing more than to run over to her and kiss her desperately. I looked around and Jasper was gone.

"I've been setup?" I said as I walked tentatively towards her. She just nodded her head as I looked at her more closely. Bella looked good, rested and happy. I was happy to see such a positive change in her.

"I already unpacked, so you won't be able to put all my stuff into the cupboards or the fridge," she joked as I walked a little bit closer to her. "I won't bite ya know?" I laughed anxiously and then she ran up to me and wrapped her arms and legs around me and began kissing me all over the face. "I'm sorry I left you."

"Are you going to do it again?" I asked curiously as I nuzzled my face into her neck and used my hands to hold her up onto my waist.

"Leave you or kiss you?" she asked curiously.

"Leave me?"

"Never."

"Good then, now that that is settled, where the fuck did you go?"

**Bella POV**

"I came back here," I said happily as I stared into his dark green eyes and hopped down from his waist. "Let's go talk about this in our room," I said as I grabbed his hand and led him down the hallway to the master bedroom. Rose and Alice had agreed to give me the bigger room again, since I was paying more in rent than they were. I got my own bathroom out of the deal, but I had to promise they could borrow it if there was an emergency.

"Ok, spill it Swan," said Edward as he walked into my room and lay down comfortably on my new queen size bed. "This is better than that shitty double you had at the dorm by the way."

"Thanks, I think. Anyways, I came back early to see my psychiatrist. I saw him for a few hours on Monday, got my prescription for an anti-depressant and scheduled a weekly appointment with him for Monday's after my reading lab." My voice sounded confident, excited even. When I glanced over at Edward, he looked concerned.

"Why did you leave?"

"I saw you with Lauren on New Year's Eve, and first of all I wasn't jealous. I know you wouldn't cheat on me. Why go for ground chuck when you have filet mignon right?" I laughed, but he didn't seem as amused as I was. "I just knew that if I wanted you the way I do, I had to stand on my own two feet and get into therapy. I know I probably frustrated the hell out of you, but I wanted to do things my way. I wanted to be normal, independent Bella from Forks, Washington again." He looked at me sympathetically, but still had an air of concern around him. "You look like you have questions, so ask me anything you want."

"How was the appointment with the doctor?" asked Edward as he kicked his shoes off and onto my floor.

"It was good. I told him about everything, he actually even knows Dr. Burke. Funny huh? Anywhoo, he told me it seemed like mild depression, but that after four months of weekly appointments we would reconsider my needs, so I may not need therapy or drugs after that." The more I talked, the more Edward seemed to be relaxing. He seemed happy that I had gone to therapy, but upset I couldn't confide in him. "You should be happy. I actually slept last night. No nightmares, no screaming. I was very proud of myself." I felt relieved telling Edward all of this. I felt so bad for leaving him in the dark for the past few days, but I really wanted to do things my way.

"And how do you feel in general?" he asked tentatively.

"I feel good, I could say normal, but I was never really normal before. I still have a lot of sleep to make up, but I also feel like I have the whole world awaiting me." I beamed excitedly. "He wants me to bring you with me in a few weeks, would you be okay with that?" Edward nodded his head and gave me a little hug.

"I'm extremely proud of you Bella." He smiled and kissed me gently on the lips. I had pulled off his jacket and we were about to get down to some more serious business, when Emmett came knocking on my door.

"Some of these boxes are yours Swan, come and get em before I throw them out the window," he yelled as Edward jumped up off the bed to defend my honor or something.

"Go fuck yourself Emmett," I screamed as I walked out of the bedroom with Edward right behind me."If you touch my boxes I will never cook for you again, and I will tell Rose where you hide the porno mags back at your place."

"What porno mags?" screamed Rosalie as Emmett headed back down the hallway to get more boxes.

"This is the Bella Swan I remember," said Edward as he wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me close to him, and I finally felt complete again.


	32. Epilogue 5 years later

**A/N: Aww… my epilogue. Enjoy the story. I hope I don't piss people off by ending it, but think of all the decent fics out there that people never finish. That is one of my major pet peeves, that and stinky cheese.**

**** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management****

**Edward POV**

"Dude, stop fidgeting. This is what you wanted for like five fricking years. You should be pissing yourself with excitement."

"Thanks for the visual Emmett. Now I know why I picked Jasper as my best man," I said as I looked in the mirror for the millionth time and readjusted my tie. I hated tuxedos, but for this girl I would do anything, so a monkey suit seemed like a small issue. Of course, the fact that Alice made us to go like five fittings for these damned suits pissed me off more than actually wearing it.

"All the girls are finally here. We should be getting this show on the road any minute now," said Jasper as he strolled into the groom's room at the church. He was not nervous at all, then again, this wasn't his wedding day.

"How does she look?" I asked anxiously. I started to wonder why people actually got married because this was one of the most nerve wracking things I had ever done. It was a hundred times more stressful than when I proposed last year in Grant Park. Bella said yes instantly, not that I had any doubt, after all we had been living together for almost 2 years by the time I proposed. Once school was over, Bella and I moved to Chicago together and got our own little place. Bella found work as a children's book editor and I began life as a self-employed composer and part time piano teacher. We both loved our lives in Chicago, so we decided to make it permanent, for as long as we both shall live.

"How is it going in here?" asked Carlisle as he wandered in and patted me on the back in support.

"I think Edward might explode," said Emmett, clearly trying to calm my nerves with laughter. It was not working.

"Jasper, you never answered my question," I snapped as I turned around to face him again. "How does she look?"

"She looks stunning, gorgeous, elegant and definitely a lot calmer than you, so relax before you have a damned coronary."

"At least if he does have a heart attack, there's enough doctors in the room to save him," joked Emmett again.

"Stop with the jokes Emmett, they are not fucking funny," snapped Jasper as he looked and me and straightened my tie. It finally looked right. I thanked him and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Don't worry Edward. The moment you see Bella walking down the aisle, all this stress will have been for nothing," said Carlisle as he paced around the room with us patiently. "That's how it was with your mother and I. I was standing at the altar, contemplating all the exits and whether your uncles would be able to tackle me before I ran out. Then I saw her and all my reservations and worries disappeared."

"You wanted to run away from Esme?" said Emmett in surprise. "But she's such a MILF." I smacked Emmett upside the head and Jasper looked like he wanted to rip his heart out of his chest.

"I don't know what that is Emmett, but okay," said Carlisle as we all laughed nervously.

"For me, it was just stress. I didn't see Esme for like 3 days before the wedding, so I was just nervous. It's clearly all good now seeing as we have been married for almost thirty years." He smiled wistfully, clearly recalling their wedding many years ago.

Father Jansen strolled in a few minutes later to let us know it was time to start the ceremony. Carlisle gave me a gentle hug and went to join the women, since Bella had asked him immediately after we told my parents of the engagement, if he would give her away.

"Ready to go Edward?" asked Father Jansen as he held open the door to the grooms' room.

"Definitely,"

**Bella POV**

"I can't believe the wedding is here already," said Alice as she lifted up my dress and slid my shoes into place.

When I first accepted Edward's proposal, we talked about having a small wedding with just family and friends, maybe even a destination wedding in St. Barts or something equally fabulous. Then I asked Alice to be my maid of honor and she talked to Esme and suddenly, here we are, having one of the most lavish weddings in Chicago. I wouldn't change it for the world though. Esme and I were already closer than ever, and when Edward and I announced our engagement, she broke down in tears, so happy for us. I already felt like she was my mother and that Edward was mine forever, now we just needed to make it official.

Alice, Rosalie and Esme dragged me to virtually every bridal shop within a 4 hour radius of Chicago in the first two months after our engagement. Of course, my favorite was the third dress I tried on, so everything else was just me playing dress up. One year later, here I stand in my beautiful strapless chiffon gown, awaiting Carlisle to walk me down the aisle. There was intricate lace work all over the dress, with a long train and some beautiful chiffon flowers across the top of the bodice.

Alice, of course, used the style of the dress to help plan every single detail of the wedding. The flowers on all the bouquets and on all the tables at the reception were white Peonies, to match the flowers on my dress. I will admit, she should have become a wedding planner instead of a buyer at a major department store, but at least I had her perfect style for my own wedding.

"Bella… are you with us?" said Esme as she handed me a small box, with a little pink bow around it.

"What's this for?" I asked curiously as I pulled the ribbon to release the small bow.

"Something borrowed," she said happily, as I opened the box and found her grandmother's pearl necklace.

"Thanks so much Esme. That was very sweet of you," I said excitedly as Rosalie helped me put it in place. It was the perfect accessory. No wonder Alice kept insisting I didn't need a necklace.

"Ok, so the tradition is something old, which I guess would apply to the necklace, something new, which of course is the diamond earrings Edward gave you. Something borrowed is the necklace from Esme as well and now all you need is something blue," said Alice eagerly as she handed me a small blue garter belt.

"Thanks Alice," I said as I shifted uncomfortably in my dress for a moment. She grabbed the garter from me in a flash, reached back under my dress and had it perfectly in place in seconds. "Have you been practicing that?" I asked as I laughed and adjusted my dress again.

Father Jansen came in a minute later to let us know that the groomsmen had all taken their places at the front of the church and it was now time to start the processional. Esme left quickly to join Edward who was supposed to walk her to her seat before taking his spot at the front of the altar. Carlisle walked in a second later and grabbed my arm in his.

"Ready Daughter?" he said sweetly as he rubbed my hand in comfort.

"Definitely," I said happily as Rose and Alice stood in front of me, ready to do join our men at the front of the church, as Pachelbel's canon played in the background.

**Edward POV**

The moment I saw Bella walking down the aisle towards me, on the arm of my father, all my nerves dissipated. Unfortunately, I started to cry a bit. Jasper quickly handed me a handkerchief and offered me a supportive pat on the back.

"I told you she looked stunning," he whispered to me. He was right. In fact, stunning was probably an understatement. She was wearing a gorgeous white dress, covered in lace and fabric flowers that matched the ones she was carrying. Her hair was piled loosely on top of her head, with dozens of curls cascading down her shoulders and back. She looked like an angel. My angel. My father looked like the proudest man on the face of the earth as he stood in front of us and laid her hand in mine. It may have taken us five years, but I wasn't letting go of her ever again.

It seemed like it only took minutes for us to recite our vows to each other, even though I know the entire ceremony lasted more like half an hour. Each time I looked into the front pew, I saw my mother crying happily and holding onto my father's hand lovingly. I hoped that Bella and I would be as happy thirty years from now.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm proud to be the first to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen," said Father Jansen happily. "You may now kiss your bride." He didn't have to tell me twice, as I grabbed Bella enthusiastically by the waist and pulled her close to me, kissing her with every ounce of love I had to give.

We drove to the reception in some horse and carriage thing that Alice had arranged. I had thought it was a little outrageous, but Esme practically insisted on it. Bella and I managed no time together before we were ushered into the reception and announced to all of our friends and family. Other than our college graduation, I don't think I had ever seen so many people in one room at once.

"I bet we got some awesome gifts," laughed Bella as I twirled her onto the dance floor for our first official dance. She had given me free reign on the song and kept insisting she trusted me even though I kept saying it was going to be the Dan Band cover of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart.' Of course I couldn't do that to her or my mother, who would surely kill me for doing something so improper at my own wedding.

I wrapped her in my arms and held her close as the first lyrics started, James Morrison's Better Man.

_There was a time  
I had nothing to give  
I needed shelter from the storm I was in  
And when it all got too heavy  
You carried my weight  
And I want to hold you  
And I want to say_

That you are all that I need  
For you, I give my soul to keep  
You see me, love me  
Just the way I am  
For you I am a better man  
I said you are the reason  
For everything that I do  
I'd be lost, so lost, without you

Under the stars  
At the edge of the sea  
There's no one around  
No one but you and me  
We'd talk for hours  
As time drifts away  
I could stay here forever  
And hold you this way

"I love you Edward Cullen," she said as we finally pulled apart and faced our cheering guests.

"I love you too Isabella Cullen."

**A/N: I wish I had 'Better Man' play at my wedding. My husband picked "At Last" by Etta James. It was the only decision I would allow him to make. I let him pick out his tuxedo, but they changed everything to suite what I wanted. Yes, I was a bridezilla. What was or will be the first dance at your wedding?**


End file.
